Introducing a simple method of maxillary sinus volume assessment based on linear dimensions

Publication date: Available online 28 September 2017
Source:Annals of Anatomy - Anatomischer Anzeiger
Author(s): Przystańska Agnieszka, Kulczyk Tomasz, Rewekant Artur, Sroka Alicja, Jończyk-Potoczna Katarzyna, Lorkiewicz-Muszyńska Dorota, Gawriołek Krzysztof, Czajka-Jakubowska Agata
Measuring sinus volume in a general practice clinic is a complex and time-consuming procedure, requiring experience in the use of radiological methods In the presented research, the automatically estimated maxillary sinus volume was compared with maxillary sinus volume assessed with mathematical formulas used to calculate the volume of spheres and pyramids. The starting point for the statistical analysis were specific measurements of the sinuses. We wanted to discover which geometric shape has the volume that is nearest to the automatically estimated volume.The study was performed using samples of CT scans of pediatric patients age 1 to 17. The dimensions (maximal width, maximal height, maximal length) were used for manual calculations. For the automatic volume calculation, the CT Image Segmentation algorithm (Syngo Via for Oncology, Siemens) was used. Pearson's correlation coefficient was applied to analyse the interrelationship between automatically and manually calculated volume of maxillary sinus. It was statistically established that the "sphere", "pyramid" and "mean" manually calculated maxillary sinus volume were accurate and strongly correlated with the automatically estimated maxillary sinus volume. The volume of the sphere corresponds better with the automatic measurements than the volume of the pyramid. The variations are significant and they were made reliable with the application of a statistical test. It is quick and easy to calculate the maxillary sinus volume based on its linear dimensions instead of applying advanced software. The manual method for maxillary sinus volume calculation requires three linear measurements of the sinus (length, width, and height) and can be recommended if the automatically estimated volume cannot be obtained.



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Bodies of children in the Institute of Anatomy in Halle (Saale), Germany, between 1920 and 1945

Publication date: Available online 27 September 2017
Source:Annals of Anatomy - Anatomischer Anzeiger
Author(s): F. Winter, D. Stoevesandt, R. Schultka, M. Viebig, K. Moeller, F. Steger, H. Kielstein
At the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology in Halle (Saale) 74 children's bodies of unknown historical provenance are being held in storage. The aim of this study was the evaluation of their identities, the circumstances of their acquisition, as well as the documentation of their individual characteristics. For these purposes, all bodies were comprehensively examined and photo-documented. Furthermore, CT-scans of 29 bodies were performed and information was collected from various local and national archives. Although most of the bodies were found to be those of stillborn children and infants, five children were between two and twelve years old, according to an age estimate by body-length and carpal bone analysis. The CT-scans revealed the cause of death for some of the children. The embalming method indicates that the bodies date from the first decades of the 20th century, and archival sources containing documents from 1920 to 1960 strongly suggest that these children's bodies were acquired by Institute of Anatomy between 1920 and 1942. During that period, a total of 2,602 children's bodies were delivered to the Institute of Anatomy and registered in the communal burial records. At this point, there is no evidence that these children might have been victims of National Socialist crimes. It is planned to give them a dignified burial.



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Scholar : These new articles for Voice and Speech Review are available online

The online platform for Taylor & Francis Online content New for Voice and Speech Review and online now on Taylor & Francis Online: Book Review Living the Alexander technique, interviews with nine senior teachers Heather Lyle Pages: 1-3 | DOI: 10.1080/23268263.2017.1370823 Browse this free access collection on Communication, Media and Culture in Asia: http://bit.ly/cmc-in-asia To update which email alerts you receive, manage your alerts within the My Account area. You can also unsubscribe from this alert with one click. If you need any further help, please contact us at support@tandfonline.com Please do not reply to this email. To ensure that you receive your alerts and information from Taylor & Francis Online, please add "alerts@tandfonline.com" and "info@tandfonline.com" to your safe senders list. Taylor & Francis, an Informa business. Taylor & Francis is a trading name of Informa UK Limited, registered in England under no. 1072954. Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.

Full Left Ventricle Quantification via Deep Multitask Relationships Learning

Publication date: Available online 28 September 2017
Source:Medical Image Analysis
Author(s): Wufeng Xue, Gary Brahm, Sachin Pandey, Stephanie Leung, Shuo Li
Cardiac left ventricle (LV) quantification is among the most clinically important tasks for identification and diagnosis of cardiac disease. However, it is still a task of great challenge due to the high variability of cardiac structure across subjects and the complexity of temporal dynamics of cardiac sequences. Full quantification, i.e., to simultaneously quantify all LV indices including two areas (cavity and myocardium), six regional wall thicknesses (RWT), three LV dimensions, and one phase (Diastole or Systole), is even more challenging since the ambiguous correlations existing among these indices may impinge upon the convergence and generalization of the learning procedure. In this paper, we propose a deep multitask relationship learning network (DMTRL) for full LV quantification. The proposed DMTRL first obtains expressive and robust cardiac representations with a deep convolution neural network (CNN); then models the temporal dynamics of cardiac sequences effectively with two parallel recurrent neural network (RNN) modules. After that, it estimates the three types of LV indices under a Bayesian framework that is capable of learning multitask relationships automatically, and estimates the cardiac phase with a softmax classifier. The CNN representation, RNN temporal modeling, Bayesian multitask relationship learning, and softmax classifier establish an effective and integrated network which can be learned in an end-to-end manner. The obtained task covariance matrix captures the correlations existing among these indices, therefore leads to accurate estimation of LV indices and cardiac phase. Experiments on MR sequences of 145 subjects show that DMTRL achieves high accurate prediction, with average mean absolute error of 180 mm², 1.39 mm, 2.51 mm for areas, RWT, dimensions and error rate of 8.2% for the phase classification. This endows our method a great potential in comprehensive clinical assessment of global, regional and dynamic cardiac function.

Graphical abstract

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A Tale of Two Elabela Null Mice

Publication date: Available online 27 September 2017
Source:Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism
Author(s): Irinna Papangeli, Hyung J. Chun
Elabela (ELA), the second peptide ligand for the apelin receptor, APLNR, was previously found in lower vertebrates to be crucial for endoderm and cardiac development. Two new studies report on the phenotypes of Ela null mice, ranging from defective embryogenesis to preeclampsia, providing new insights and raising greater intrigue on this cardiometabolic pathway.



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Intranasal Fentanyl and Quality of Pediatric Acute Care

Publication date: Available online 28 September 2017
Source:The Journal of Emergency Medicine
Author(s): Kathleen M. Adelgais, Alison Brent, Joseph Wathen, Suhong Tong, Derrek Massanari, Sara Deakyne, Marion R. Sills
BackgroundChanges in the manner in which medications can be delivered can have significant effects on the quality of care in the acute care setting.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to evaluate the change in three Institute of Medicine quality indicators (timeliness, safety, and effectiveness) in the pediatric emergency department (ED) after the introduction of the Mucosal Atomizer Device Nasal™ (MADn) for opioid analgesia.MethodsThis was a retrospective review of patients receiving opioid analgesia for certain conditions over a 5-year period. We compared patients receiving intravenous opioid (IVO) to those receiving intranasal fentanyl (INF). Timeliness outcomes include time from medication order to administration, time from dose to discharge, overall time to analgesia, and ED length of stay. Effectiveness outcomes include change in pain score and frequency of repeat dosing. Safety outcomes were the frequency of reversal agent administration or a documented oxygen desaturation of < 90%. Sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the effect of moderate sedation on all three outcomes.ResultsDuring the study period, 1702 patients received opioid analgesia, 744 before and 958 after MADn introduction, of whom, 233 (24%) received INF. After MADn introduction, patients receiving INF had a shorter time to discharge from dose (109 vs. 203 min; p < 0.05) and shorter ED length of stay (168 vs. 267 min; p < 0.05). There was no difference in pain score reduction; however, repeat dosing was less frequent for patients receiving INF (16% vs. 27%). There was no use of reversal medication and no difference in the frequency of oxygen desaturations. When patients undergoing moderate sedation were removed from the analysis, there was no difference in the direction of findings for all three outcomes.ConclusionsINF is associated with improved timeliness and equivalent effectiveness and safety when compared to IVO in the setting of the pediatric ED.



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Scholar : Acta Oto-Laryngologica, Volume 137, Issue 12, December 2017 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online

The online platform for Taylor & Francis Online content Acta Oto-Laryngologica, Volume 137, Issue 12, December 2017 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online. This new issue contains the following articles: Research Article Radiological, clinical and audiological evaluation of jugular bulb–vestibular aqueduct dehiscence Asli Tanrivermis Sayit, Muzaffer Elmali, Ozgur Kemal & Yuksel Terzi Pages: 1221-1225 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1360516 Characteristic MR findings suggesting presumed labyrinthine hemorrhage Dong Sun Kim, Dong Woo Park, Tae Yoon Kim, Sangjoon Lee, Young Jun Lee, Ji Young Lee, Seung Hwan Lee & Jae Ho Chung Pages: 1226-1232 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1363911 Sequential motion of the ossicular chain measured by laser Doppler vibrometry Yasuomi Kunimoto, Kensaku Hasegawa, Shiro Arii, Hideyuki Kataoka, Hiroaki Yazama, Junko Kuya, Kazunori Fujiwara & Hiromi Takeuchi Pages: 1233-1237 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1357833 Long-term hearing outcomes after recurrent acute otitis media during early childhood Mattias Krakau, Britta Rynnel Dagöö, Sten Hellström & Anna Granath Pages: 1238-1243 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1362111 Revision of a furosemide-loading vestibular-evoked myogenic potential protocol for detecting endolymphatic hydrops Toru Seo, Ko Shiraishi, Takaaki Kobayashi, Kitano Mutsukazu, Takeshi Fujita, Kazuya Saito & Katsumi Doi Pages: 1244-1248 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1355565 Administering of pregabalin and acetaminophen on management of postoperative pain in patients with nasal polyposis undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery Ahmad Rezaeian Pages: 1249-1252 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1358464 Effects of pepsin A on heat shock protein 70 response in laryngopharyngeal reflux patients with chronic rhinosinusitis Jing Wang, Zhao Yu, Jianjun Ren , Yang Xu, Yuke Zhang, Lei Lei, Yongbo Zheng, Ligao Huang & Zhaoping He Pages: 1253-1259 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1360515 Correlation between HPV status at T and N sites of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas Michael Vallop Josiassen, Birgitte Charabi, Christel Braemer Lajer, Emilie Garnaes, Marianne Hamilton Therkildsen, Bodil Norrild, Lena Specht, Finn Cilius Nielsen & Christian von Buchwald Pages: 1260-1264 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1356934 Original Article Epidemiology and trend of pediatric adenoidectomy: a population-based study in Taiwan from 1997 to 2012 Chia-Hsuan Lee, Wei-Chung Hsu, Jenq-Yuh Ko, Te-Huei Yeh, Wei-Hsiu Chang & Kun-Tai Kang Pages: 1265-1270 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1357191 Research Article Plunging ranula – patient characteristics, treatment, and comparison between different populations Annina Lyly, Eeva Castrén, Johanna Aronniemi & Tuomas Klockars Pages: 1271-1274 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1357082 Intraoperative nerve monitoring reduces recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in geriatric patients undergoing thyroid surgery Huang Kai, Lin Xixia, Long Miaoyun, Chen Qinchang, Peng Xinzhi, Luo Dingyuan & Li Honghao Pages: 1275-1280 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1354397 Pharyngotomy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: functional and oncological aspects Carolin Remmert, Naglaa Mansour, Benedikt Hofauer, Elias Q. Scherer, Murat Bas, Henning Bier & Andreas Knopf Pages: 1281-1287 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1355564 Mild pulmonary emphysema a risk factor for interstitial lung disease when using cetuximab for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck Isaku Okamoto, Kiyoaki Tsukahara, Hiroki Sato, Ray Motohashi, Daisuke Yunaiyama & Akira Shimizu Pages: 1288-1291 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1355566 Results of preoperative chemoradiotherapy for patients with advanced cancer of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses Erik Fernström , Jan Nyman, Eva Hammerlid, Erik Holmberg , Hedda Haugen-Cange, Karin Petruson, Edvard Abel & Thomas Björk-Eriksson Pages: 1292-1300 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1357081 Treatment of the donor site of free radial flaps: vacuum sealing versus conventional wound care Michael Koch, Kavan Jalyzada, Philipp Grundtner, Heinrich Iro, Claudia Scherl, Ulrich Harréus & Julian Künzel Pages: 1301-1306 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1357190 Age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index predicts prognosis of laryngopharyngeal cancer treated with radiation therapy Kazuya Takemura, Yukinori Takenaka , Naoki Ashida, Kotaro Shimizu, Ryohei Oya, Takahiro Kitamura, Yoshifumi Yamamoto & Atsuhiko Uno Pages: 1307-1312 | DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2017.1362112 To update which email alerts you receive, manage your alerts within the My Account area. You can also unsubscribe from this alert with one click. If you need any further help, please contact us at support@tandfonline.com Please do not reply to this email. To ensure that you receive your alerts and information from Taylor & Francis Online, please add "alerts@tandfonline.com" and "info@tandfonline.com" to your safe senders list. Taylor & Francis, an Informa business. Taylor & Francis is a trading name of Informa UK Limited, registered in England under no. 1072954. Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.

Scholar : Journal of Natural History, Volume 51, Issue 39-40, October 2017 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online

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The online platform for Taylor & Francis Online content Journal of Natural History, Volume 51, Issue 39-40, October 2017 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online. This new issue contains the following articles: Articles A second species of the genus Vietnamorpha Golovatch, 1984 (Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae) and notes on the generic relationship Anh D. Nguyen Pages: 2331-2343 | DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2017.1355491 Diet comparison between rainforest and cave populations of Craugastor alfredi (Anura: Craugastoridae): does diet vary in contrasting habitats? Ricardo Luría-Manzano & Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista Pages: 2345-2354 | DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2017.1366573 Reproduction, diet and sexual dimorphism of Gymnodactylus geckoides Spix, 1825 (Sauria: Squamata) from a Restinga area in northeastern Brazil Alan Filipe de Souza-Oliveira , Felipe de Medeiros Magalhães & Adrian Antonio Garda Pages: 2355-2372 | DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2017.1366572 An ontogenetically stable sexual character in a montane agamid, Salea horsfieldii Gray, 1845 (Reptilia: Agamidae) from Nilgiris, India Caleb Daniel G. , Rachakonda Sreekar & V. Deepak Pages: 2373-2383 | DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2017.1369188 Urbanization impacts on the trophic guild composition of bird communities Maximiliano A. Cristaldi, Alejandro R. Giraudo, Vanesa Arzamendia, Gisela P. Bellini & Juan Claus Pages: 2385-2404 | DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2017.1371803 Book Review North Atlantic Right Whales: From Hunted Leviathan to Conservation Icon Scott Wilson Pages: 2405-2406 | DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2017.1371486 To update which email alerts you receive, manage your alerts within the My Account area. You can also unsubscribe from this alert with one click. If you need any further help, please contact us at support@tandfonline.com Please do not reply to this email. To ensure that you receive your alerts and information from Taylor & Francis Online, please add "alerts@tandfonline.com" and "info@tandfonline.com" to your safe senders list. Taylor & Francis, an Informa business. Taylor & Francis is a trading name of Informa UK Limited, registered in England under no. 1072954. Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.

Scholar : These new articles for Arts & Health are available online

The online platform for Taylor & Francis Online content New for Arts & Health and online now on Taylor & Francis Online: Original Articles Art museums as a source of well-being for people with dementia: an experience in the Prado Museum Manuel H. Belver, Ana M. Ullán, Noemi Avila, Carmen Moreno & Clara Hernández Pages: 1-14 | DOI: 10.1080/17533015.2017.1381131 QHW publishes new thematic cluster on ADHD International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being (QHW) is an open access peer reviewed scientific journal that provides a forum for the exchange of data, knowledge, theoretical framework and methods on health and well-being.Read the journal's thematic cluster on ADHD today. To update which email alerts you receive, manage your alerts within the My Account area. You can also unsubscribe from this alert with one click. If you need any further help, please contact us at support@tandfonline.com Please do not reply to this email. To ensure that you receive your alerts and information from Taylor & Francis Online, please add "alerts@tandfonline.com" and "info@tandfonline.com" to your safe senders list. Taylor & Francis, an Informa business. Taylor & Francis is a trading name of Informa UK Limited, registered in England under no. 1072954. Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of salicyladimine derivatives as multitarget-directed ligands against Alzheimer’s disease

Publication date: Available online 27 September 2017
Source:Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry
Author(s): Hua-Li Yang, Pei Cai, Qiao-Hong Liu, Xue-Lian Yang, Si-Qiang Fang, Yan-Wei Tang, Cheng Wang, Xiao-Bing Wang, Ling-Yi Kong
A series of salicyladimine derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as multi-target-directed ligands for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Biological activity results demonstrated that some derivatives possessed significant inhibitory activities against amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregation and human monoamine oxidase B (hMAO-B) as well as remarkable antioxidant effects and low cell toxicity. The optimal compound, 5, exhibited excellent potency for inhibition of self-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation (91.3±2.1%, 25 μM), inhibition of hMAO-B (IC50, 1.73±0.39 μM), antioxidant effects (43.4±2.6 μM of IC50 by DPPH method, 0.67±0.06 trolox equivalent by ABTS method), metal chelation and BBB penetration. Furthermore, compound 5 had neuroprotective effects against ROS generation, H2O2-induced apoptosis, 6-OHDA-induced cell injury, and a significant in vitro anti-inflammatory activity. Collectively, these findings highlighted that compound 5 was a potential balanced multifunctional neuroprotective agent for the development of anti-AD drugs.

Graphical abstract

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Challenges in the design of insulin and relaxin/insulin-like peptide mimetics

Publication date: Available online 27 September 2017
Source:Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry
Author(s): Mohammed Akhter Hossain, Ross A.D. Bathgate
Peptidomimetics are designed to overcome the poor pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics associated with the native peptide or protein on which they are based. The design of peptidomimetics starts from developing structure-activity relationships of the native ligand-target pair that identify the key residues that are responsible for the biological effect of the native peptide or protein. Then minimization of the structure and introduction of constraints are applied to create the core active site that can interact with the target with high affinity and selectivity. Developing peptidomimetics is not trivial and often challenging, particularly when peptides' interaction mechanism with their target is complex. This review will discuss the challenges of developing peptidomimetics of therapeutically important insulin superfamily peptides, particularly those which have two chains (A and B) and three disulfide bonds and whose receptors are known, namely insulin, H2 relaxin, H3 relaxin, INSL3 and INSL5.

Graphical abstract

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Rationally designed hecogenin thiosemicarbazone analogs as novel MEK inhibitors for the control of breast malignancies

Publication date: Available online 27 September 2017
Source:Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry
Author(s): Heba E. Elsayed, Hassan Y. Ebrahim, Eman G. Haggag, Amel M. Kamal, Khalid A. El Sayed
Natural products have documented oncology success history as valuable scaffolds for selective target modulation. Herein, the sapogenin hecogenin (1) was screened for its anti-breast cancer inhibitory capacity using in vitro assays, including proliferation, cytotoxicity, migration, invasion assays, and western blotting. The results identified 1 as a propitious hit with modest activities attributed to the concurrent down regulation of mitogen activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK) distinctive downstream effectors. Guided by in silico 3D-structural insights of MAPK kinase domain, an extension-strategy was adopted at 1's C-3 and C-12 aimed at the design of novel hecogenin-based analogs with improved target binding affinity. Thirty-three analogs were prepared and tested, among which hecogenin 12-(3'-methylphenyl thiosemicarbazone) (30) displayed the most potent selective anticancer effects. Analog 30 demonstrated antiproliferative, antimigratory and anti-invasive activities at low μM level, compared to the negligible effect on the non-tumorigenic MCF-10A mammary epithelial cells. Durable regression of breast tumor xenografts in athymic nude mice was observed after treatments with 30, compared to its parent hecogenin at the same dose regimen, confirmed the hit-to-lead promotion of this analog. Hecogenin-12-thiosemicarbazones, represented by 30, is a novel MEK inhibitory lead class to control breast neoplasms.

Graphical abstract

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A new clerodane furano diterpene glycoside from Tinospora cordifolia triggers autophagy and apoptosis in HCT-116 colon cancer cells

Publication date: Available online 27 September 2017
Source:Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Author(s): Neha Sharma, Ashok Kumar, P.R. Sharma, Arem Qayum, Shashank K. Singh, Prabhu Dutt, Satya Paul, Vivek Gupta, M.K. Verma, N.K Satti, R. Vishwakarma
Ethnopharmacological relevanceTinospora cordifolia is a miraculous ayurvedic herb used in the treatment of innumerable diseases such as diabetes, gonorrhoea, secondary syphilis, anaemia, rheumatoid arthritis, dermatological diseases, cancer, gout, jaundice, asthma, leprosy, in the treatment of bone fractures, liver & intestinal disorders, purifies the blood, gives new life to the whole body; (rejuvenating herb) and many more. Recent studies have revealed the anticancer potential of this plant but not much work has been done on the anticancer chemical constituents actually responsible for its amazing anticancer effects. This prompted us to investigate this plant further for new potent anticancer molecules.Aim of the studyThe present study was designed to isolate and identify new promising anticancer candidates from the aqueous alcoholic extract of T. cordifolia using bioassay-guided fractionation.Materials and methodsThe structures of the isolated compounds were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data interpretation and that of new potent anticancer molecule, TC-2 was confirmed by a single-crystal X-ray crystallographic analysis of its corresponding acetate. The in vitro anti-cancer activity of TC-2 was evaluated by SRB assay and the autophagic activity was investigated by immunofluorescence microscopy. Annexin-V FITC and PI dual staining was applied for the detection of apoptosis. The studies on Mitochondrial Membrane potential and ROS (Reactive oxygen species) production were also done.ResultsBioassay guided fractionation and purification of the aqueous alcoholic stem extract of Tinospora cordifolia led to the isolation of a new clerodane furano diterpene glycoside (TC-2) along with five known compounds i.e. cordifolioside A (β-D-Glucopyranoside,4-(3-hydroxy-1-propenyl)- 2,6-dimethoxyphenyl 3-O-D-apio-β-D-furanosyl) (TC-1), β-Sitosterol(TC-3), 2β,3β:15,16-Diepoxy- 4α, 6β-dihydroxy-13(16),14-clerodadiene-17,12:18,1-diolide (TC-4), ecdysterone(TC-5) and tinosporoside(TC-6).TC-2 emerged as a potential candidate for the treatment of colon cancer.ConclusionThe overall study on the bioassay guided isolation of T.cordifolia identified and isolated a new clerodane furano diterpenoid that exhibited anticancer activity via induction of mitochondria mediated apoptosis and autophagy in HCT116 cells. We have reported a promising future candidate for treating colon cancer.

Graphical abstract

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Rhizoma Amorphophalli Inhibits TNBC Cell Proliferation, Migration, Invasion and Metastasis Though the PI3K/Akt/mTOR Pathway

Publication date: Available online 27 September 2017
Source:Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Author(s): Chunyu Wu, Shengliang Qiu, Pei Liu, Yuqing Ge, Xiufei Gao
Ethnopharmacological relevanceTriple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) often presents with a high histological grade and high malignancy, which greatly contribute to patient morbidity and mortality. Rhizoma Amorphophalli exhibits many biological and pharmacological activities, but its potential as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of metastatic TNBC patients remains poorly understood.Aim of the studyThe aim of this study was to determine whether Rhizoma Amorphophalli inhibits metastasis in the human TNBC MDA-MB-231 cell line.Materials and methodsCCK-8 and colony formation assays were adopted for the analysis of cell activity and cell proliferation, respectively. Flow cytometry was used for cell cycle analysis. Wound healing and transwell assays were performed to assess cell migration and invasion, respectively. PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathways were analyzed through western blotting. Breast cancer cell metastasis to the lung in a xenograft model was evaluated by in vivo fluorescence imaging. A GC-MS analysis was performed to determine the main components of the petroleum ether fraction from the ethanol extract of Rhizoma Amorphophalli (abbreviated RhA).ResultsRhA significantly reduced breast cancer cell viability and proliferation. The flow cytometry analysis indicated that RhA induced MDA-MB-231 cell arrest at the S phase. Additionally, RhA decreased MDA-MB-231 cell migration and invasion and inhibited the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. In addition, mice treated with RhA exhibited a significant reduction in tumor infiltration and a decrease in breast cancer cell metastasis to the lung. The GC-MS analysis results showed that RhA contained a large number of unsaturated fatty acids, such as octadecadienoic acid (linoleic acid), octadecatrienoic acid (linolenic acid), and oleate, which might represent the anticancer components of the extract.ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest that RhA has potential as a therapeutic candidate for metastatic TNBC treatment.

Graphical abstract

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Scholar : These new articles for Aphasiology are available online

The online platform for Taylor & Francis Online content New for Aphasiology and online now on Taylor & Francis Online: Original Articles Segmental and prosodic variability on repeated polysyllabic word production in acquired apraxia of speech plus aphasia Dominique I. Scholl , Patricia J. McCabe, Rob Heard & Kirrie J. Ballard Pages: 1-20 | DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2017.1381876 Routledge Psychology 2017 sponsor of BPS #PsychCrunch podcasts. Access 25 journal articles: http://bit.ly/psychcrunch2017 To update which email alerts you receive, manage your alerts within the My Account area. You can also unsubscribe from this alert with one click. If you need any further help, please contact us at support@tandfonline.com Please do not reply to this email. To ensure that you receive your alerts and information from Taylor & Francis Online, please add "alerts@tandfonline.com" and "info@tandfonline.com" to your safe senders list. Taylor & Francis, an Informa business. Taylor & Francis is a trading name of Informa UK Limited, registered in England under no. 1072954. Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.

Scholar : Culture, Theory and Critique, Volume 58, Issue 4, November 2017 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online

The online platform for Taylor & Francis Online content Culture, Theory and Critique, Volume 58, Issue 4, November 2017 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online. Invisible harm: science, subjectivity and the things we cannot see; Guest Editor: Donna M. Goldstein This new issue contains the following articles: Introduction Invisible harm: science, subjectivity and the things we cannot see Donna M. Goldstein Pages: 321-329 | DOI: 10.1080/14735784.2017.1365310 Articles Theorising the new geomancy: the case of HAARP Karen Jacobs Pages: 330-356 | DOI: 10.1080/14735784.2017.1357479 Radiophobia had to be reinvented Magdalena E. Stawkowski Pages: 357-374 | DOI: 10.1080/14735784.2017.1356740 Spectral science: tracing the conflict zones of Uruguayan lead poisoning Daniel Renfrew Pages: 375-390 | DOI: 10.1080/14735784.2017.1356739 Fukushima in Brazil: undone science, technophilia, epistemic murk Donna M. Goldstein Pages: 391-412 | DOI: 10.1080/14735784.2017.1357480 Blinkered science: why we know so little about Chernobyl's health effects Kate Brown Pages: 413-434 | DOI: 10.1080/14735784.2017.1358099 Invisible harms, invisible profits: a theory of the incentive to contaminate Lindsay Ofrias Pages: 435-456 | DOI: 10.1080/14735784.2017.1357478 Editorial Board Editorial Board Pages: ebi-ebi | DOI: 10.1080/14735784.2017.1380506 'Like' Culture, Theory and Critique on Facebook for the latest news from the journal. To update which email alerts you receive, manage your alerts within the My Account area. You can also unsubscribe from this alert with one click. If you need any further help, please contact us at support@tandfonline.com Please do not reply to this email. To ensure that you receive your alerts and information from Taylor & Francis Online, please add "alerts@tandfonline.com" and "info@tandfonline.com" to your safe senders list. Taylor & Francis, an Informa business. Taylor & Francis is a trading name of Informa UK Limited, registered in England under no. 1072954. Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.

Smiles as Multipurpose Social Signals

Publication date: Available online 27 September 2017
Source:Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Author(s): Jared Martin, Magdalena Rychlowska, Adrienne Wood, Paula Niedenthal
The human smile is highly variable in both its form and the social contexts in which it is displayed. A social-functional account identifies three distinct smile expressions defined in terms of their effects on the perceiver: reward smiles reinforce desired behavior; affiliation smiles invite and maintain social bonds; and dominance smiles manage hierarchical relationships. Mathematical modeling uncovers the appearance of the smiles, and both human and Bayesian classifiers validate these distinctions. New findings link laughter to reward, affiliation, and dominance, and research suggests that these functions of smiles are recognized across cultures. Taken together, this evidence suggests that the smile can be productively investigated according to how it assists the smiler in meeting the challenges and opportunities inherent in human social living.



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Scholar : These new articles for New Political Science are available online

The online platform for Taylor & Francis Online content New for New Political Science and online now on Taylor & Francis Online: Essays Battling the Prince: A Political Memoir Claire Snyder-Hall Pages: 1-10 | DOI: 10.1080/07393148.2017.1379280 Interested in the political-economic topics surrounding China? You wouldn't want to miss this exclusive collection. To update which email alerts you receive, manage your alerts within the My Account area. You can also unsubscribe from this alert with one click. If you need any further help, please contact us at support@tandfonline.com Please do not reply to this email. To ensure that you receive your alerts and information from Taylor & Francis Online, please add "alerts@tandfonline.com" and "info@tandfonline.com" to your safe senders list. Taylor & Francis, an Informa business. Taylor & Francis is a trading name of Informa UK Limited, registered in England under no. 1072954. Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.

Scholar : Bulletin of Spanish Studies, Volume 94, Issue 4, May 2017 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online

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The online platform for Taylor & Francis Online content Bulletin of Spanish Studies, Volume 94, Issue 4, May 2017 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online. Modelos de teatro cómico en el Siglo de Oro This new issue contains the following articles: Introducción Modelos de teatro cómico en el Siglo de Oro Ignacio Arellano Pages: 567-571 | DOI: 10.1080/14753820.2017.1367159 ARTICLES El argumento y las pasiones en la comedia: la Poética de Aristóteles y algunas comedias cómicas de Lope de Vega Luis Galván Pages: 573-594 | DOI: 10.1080/14753820.2017.1368242 De la comedia a fantasía a la comedia palatina: Aquilana de Bartolomé de Torres Naharro como modelo dramático Jéssica Castro Rivas Pages: 595-613 | DOI: 10.1080/14753820.2017.1370180 'De gusto y pasatiempo': el humor de palabras y obras en las comedias cómicas de Cervantes Victoriano Roncero López Pages: 615-640 | DOI: 10.1080/14753820.2017.1354442 La poesía dramática de vituperio y su vertiente cómica en los entremeses de Antonio de Zamora Juan Manuel Escudero Baztán Pages: 641-652 | DOI: 10.1080/14753820.2017.1366141 Un modelo de comedia cómica: La mujer por fuerza, atribuida a Tirso de Molina Blanca Oteiza Pages: 653-664 | DOI: 10.1080/14753820.2017.1357261 Un bobo hace ciento de Antonio de Solís como modelo de inverosimilitud cómica Judith Farré Vidal Pages: 665-675 | DOI: 10.1080/14753820.2017.1357346 La comicidad difusa del enredo inverosímil: el caso de Las manos blancas no ofenden, de Calderón Santiago Fernández Mosquera Pages: 677-692 | DOI: 10.1080/14753820.2017.1353227 Los modelos de comedias cómicas y de la comicidad en Calderón Ignacio Arellano Pages: 693-709 | DOI: 10.1080/14753820.2017.1360044 To update which email alerts you receive, manage your alerts within the My Account area. You can also unsubscribe from this alert with one click. If you need any further help, please contact us at support@tandfonline.com Please do not reply to this email. To ensure that you receive your alerts and information from Taylor & Francis Online, please add "alerts@tandfonline.com" and "info@tandfonline.com" to your safe senders list. Taylor & Francis, an Informa business. Taylor & Francis is a trading name of Informa UK Limited, registered in England under no. 1072954. Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.

Development: Epigenome dynamics from seed to seedling

Nature Reviews Genetics. doi:10.1038/nrg.2017.78

Author: Linda Koch

http://ift.tt/2xLYF8q

Demographic history, selection and functional diversity of the canine genome

Nature Reviews Genetics. doi:10.1038/nrg.2017.67

Authors: Elaine A. Ostrander, Robert K. Wayne, Adam H. Freedman & Brian W. Davis

http://ift.tt/2xMXk1s

Serotonin 2A Receptor Signaling Underlies LSD-induced Alteration of the Neural Response to Dynamic Changes in Music

Abstract

Classic psychedelic drugs (serotonin 2A, or 5HT_2A, receptor agonists) have notable effects on music listening. In the current report, blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal was collected during music listening in 25 healthy adults after administration of placebo, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and LSD pretreated with the 5HT_2A antagonist ketanserin, to investigate the role of 5HT_2A receptor signaling in the neural response to the time-varying tonal structure of music. Tonality-tracking analysis of BOLD data revealed that 5HT_2A receptor signaling alters the neural response to music in brain regions supporting basic and higher-level musical and auditory processing, and areas involved in memory, emotion, and self-referential processing. This suggests a critical role of 5HT_2A receptor signaling in supporting the neural tracking of dynamic tonal structure in music, as well as in supporting the associated increases in emotionality, connectedness, and meaningfulness in response to music that are commonly observed after the administration of LSD and other psychedelics. Together, these findings inform the neuropsychopharmacology of music perception and cognition, meaningful music listening experiences, and altered perception of music during psychedelic experiences.

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Pyramidal Cell Subtypes and Their Synaptic Connections in Layer 5 of Rat Frontal Cortex

Abstract

The frontal cortical areas make a coordinated response that generates appropriate behavior commands, using individual local circuits with corticostriatal and corticocortical connections in longer time scales than sensory areas. In secondary motor cortex (M2), situated between the prefrontal and primary motor areas, major subtypes of layer 5 corticostriatal cells are crossed-corticostriatal (CCS) cells innervating both sides of striatum, and corticopontine (CPn) cells projecting to the ipsilateral striatum and pontine nuclei. CCS cells innervate CPn cells unidirectionally: the former are therefore hierarchically higher than the latter among L5 corticostriatal cells. CCS cells project directly to both frontal and nonfrontal areas. On the other hand, CPn cells innervate the thalamus and layer 1a of frontal areas, where thalamic fibers relaying basal ganglia outputs are distributed. Thus, CCS cells can make activities of frontal areas in concert with those of nonfrontal area using corticocortical loops, whereas CPn cells are more involved in closed corticostriatal loops than CCS cells. Since reciprocal connections between CPn cells with facilitatory synapses may be related to persistent activity, CPn cells play a key role of longer time constant processes in corticostriatal as well as in corticocortical loops between the frontal areas.

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Temporal Dynamics of Human Frontal and Cingulate Neural Activity During Conflict and Cognitive Control

Abstract

Cognitive control refers to the ability to produce flexible, goal-oriented behavior in the face of changing task demands and conflicting response tendencies. A classic cognitive control experiment is the Stroop-color naming task, which requires participants to name the color in which a word is written while inhibiting the tendency to read the word. By comparing stimuli with conflicting word-color associations to congruent ones, control processes over response tendencies can be isolated. We assessed the spatial specificity and temporal dynamics in the theta and gamma bands for regions engaged in detecting and resolving conflict in a cohort of 13 patients using a combination of high-resolution surface and depth recordings. We show that cognitive control manifests as a sustained increase in gamma band power, which correlates with response time. Conflict elicits a sustained gamma power increase but a transient theta power increase, specifically localized to the left cingulate sulcus and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Additionally, activity in DLPFC is affected by trial-by-trial modulation of cognitive control (the Gratton effect). Altogether, the sustained local neural activity in dorsolateral and medial regions is what determines the timing of the correct response.

http://ift.tt/2wYc5tX

Dysregulation of Cortical Neuron DNA Methylation Profile in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neuropsychiatric syndrome whose etiology includes genetic and environmental components. Since epigenetic marks are sensitive to environmental insult, they may be involved in the development of ASD. Initial brain studies have suggested a dysregulation of epigenetic marks in ASD. However, due to cellular heterogeneity in the brain, these studies have not determined if there is a true change in the neuronal epigenetic signature. Here, we report a genome-wide methylation study on fluorescence-activated cell sorting-sorted neuronal nuclei from the frontal cortex of 16 male ASD and 15 male control subjects. Using the 450 K BeadArray, we identified 58 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) that included loci associated to GABAergic system genes, particularly ABAT and GABBR1, and brain-specific MicroRNAs. Selected DMRs were validated by targeted Next Generation Bisulfite Sequencing. Weighted gene correlation network analysis detected 3 co-methylation modules which are significantly correlated to ASD that were enriched for genomic regions underlying neuronal, GABAergic, and immune system genes. Finally, we determined an overlap of the 58 ASD-related DMRs with neurodevelopment associated DMRs. This investigation identifies alterations in the DNA methylation pattern in ASD cortical neurons, providing further evidence that epigenetic alterations in disorder-relevant tissues may be involved in the biology of ASD.

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Mouse Cntnap2 and Human CNTNAP2 ASD Alleles Cell Autonomously Regulate PV + Cortical Interneurons

Abstract

Human mutations in CNTNAP2 are associated with an array of neuropsychiatric and neurological syndromes, including speech and language disorders, epilepsy, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We examined Cntnap2's expression and function in GABAergic cortical interneurons (CINs), where its RNA is present at highest levels in chandelier neurons, PV⁺ neurons and VIP⁺ neurons. In vivo functions were studied using both constitutive Cntnap2 null mice and a transplantation assay, the latter to assess cell autonomous phenotypes of medial ganglionic eminence (MGE)-derived CINs. We found that Cntnap2 constitutive null mutants had normal numbers of MGE-derived CINs, but had reduced PV⁺ CINs. Transplantation assays showed that Cntnap2 cell autonomously regulated the physiology of parvalbumin (PV)⁺, fast-spiking CINs; no phenotypes were observed in somatostatin⁺, regular spiking, CINs. We also tested the effects of 4 human CNTNAP2 ASD missense mutations in vivo, and found that they impaired PV⁺ CIN development. Together, these data reveal that reduced CNTNAP2 function impairs PV⁺ CINs, a cell type with important roles in regulating cortical circuits.

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Dlx1 and Dlx2 Promote Interneuron GABA Synthesis, Synaptogenesis, and Dendritogenesis

Abstract

The postnatal functions of the Dlx1&2 transcription factors in cortical interneurons (CINs) are unknown. Here, using conditional Dlx1, Dlx2, and Dlx1&2 knockouts (CKOs), we defined their roles in specific CINs. The CKOs had dendritic, synaptic, and survival defects, affecting even PV⁺ CINs. We provide evidence that DLX2 directly drives Gad1, Gad2, and Vgat expression, and show that mutants had reduced mIPSC amplitude. In addition, the mutants formed fewer GABAergic synapses on excitatory neurons and had reduced mIPSC frequency. Furthermore, Dlx1/2 CKO had hypoplastic dendrites, fewer excitatory synapses, and reduced excitatory input. We provide evidence that some of these phenotypes were due to reduced expression of GRIN2B (a subunit of the NMDA receptor), a high confidence Autism gene. Thus, Dlx1&2 coordinate key components of CIN postnatal development by promoting their excitability, inhibitory output, and survival.

http://ift.tt/2xMb2l0

Visual Cortex Limits Pop-Out in the Superior Colliculus of Awake Mice

Abstract

We detect objects more readily if they differ from their surroundings in motion, color, or texture. This increased saliency is thought to be related to increased responses in the visual cortex. The superior colliculus is another brain area involved in vision and especially in directing gaze and attention. In this study, we show that differences in texture orientation also increase responses in the superficial layers of the superior colliculus that receive retinal and cortical input. We found that gratings evoke more neural response when surrounded by orthogonal gratings than when surrounded by parallel gratings, particularly in the awake mouse. This pop-out is not originating from the visual cortex, and silencing visual cortex increased the relative difference in response. A model shows that this can result from retinotopically matched excitation from visual cortex to the superior colliculus. We suggest that the perceptual saliency of a stimulus differing from its surround in a low-level feature like grating orientation could depend on visual processing in the superior colliculus.

http://ift.tt/2wYjlpC

Efficacy and safety of topical JTE-052, a Janus kinase inhibitor, in Japanese adult patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis: A phase 2, multi-centre, randomised, vehicle-controlled clinical study

Summary

Background

JTE-052 is a novel Janus kinase inhibitor presently under clinical development for the topical treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD).

Objectives

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of JTE-052 ointment in Japanese adult patients with AD.

Methods Patients with moderate-to-severe AD were randomised (2:2:2:2:1:1) to receive JTE-052 ointment at 0.25%, 0.5%, 1% or 3%, the vehicle ointment or 0.1% tacrolimus ointment (reference) twice daily for 4 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint was the percent change in modified Eczema Area Severity Index (m-EASI) score from the baseline at the end of treatment (EOT). Secondary efficacy endpoints included change from baseline in the pruritus numeric rating scale (NRS) score.

Results

A total of 327 patients were enrolled. At EOT, the least-squares mean percent change from baseline in m-EASI score for JTE-052 0.25%, 0.5%, 1%, 3% and the vehicle ointment was –41.7%, –57.1%, –54.9%, –72.9% and –12.2%, respectively. All JTE-052 groups showed significant reductions of m-EASI score versus the vehicle group (p <0.001 for all). In the tacrolimus group, the mean percent change in m-EASI score was –62.0%. JTE-052 groups also showed significant improvement in other parameters; notably, the pruritus NRS score was reduced as early as Day 1 night-time. JTE-052 ointment at doses up to 3% was safe and well tolerated.

Conclusions

Topical JTE-052 markedly and rapidly improved clinical signs and symptoms in Japanese adult patients with moderate-to-severe AD with a favourable safety profile. The study results indicate that topical JTE-052 is a promising therapeutic option for AD.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Trial registration number: JapicCTI-152887

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52 words for snow: Dermatologists naming epidermal nevi

Abstract

In the April 2017 issue of BJD, Kuentz et al (1) report an FGFR2 mutation in a subtype of nevus sebaceus (NS). On review of the histopathology, we question the clinical diagnosis and feel that these cases may better fit with keratinocytic epidermal nevus (KEN) or remain unclassified "epidermal nevi". Both KEN and NS are papillomatous with epidermal hyperplasia (2), and while the authors note "small foci of sebaceous glands and immature hair follicle buds", they wisely observe that the early gestational age may have limited the full adnexal development and thus, it is possible these may have developed into other clinical subtypes of epidermal nevi.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Resistance development to mycobacterum tuberculosis is manageable in hidradentis suppurativa. Response to Treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa with rifampicin: have we forgotten tuberculosis?

Abstract

We read the letter by Mendes-Bastos et al. with concern.¹ Simply testing patients for latent tuberculosis solves the problem, and the authors did not mention that rifampin is an acceptable monotherapy for latent tuberculosis.² Hidradentitis suppurativa has the highest impact on quality of life of all dermatological diseases,³ and clindamycin and rifampin are a cornerstones of frequently failing therapy regimes.³ At the same time drug-resistant tuberculosis is a tremendous public health problem, particularly in China, the former Soviet Union, and India.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Contact tracing with a real-time location system: A case study of increasing relative effectiveness in an emergency department

Publication date: Available online 28 September 2017
Source:American Journal of Infection Control
Author(s): Thomas R. Hellmich, Casey M. Clements, Nibras El-Sherif, Kalyan S. Pasupathy, David M. Nestler, Andy Boggust, Vickie K. Ernste, Gomathi Marisamy, Kyle R. Koenig, M. Susan Hallbeck
BackgroundContact tracing is the systematic method of identifying individuals potentially exposed to infectious diseases. Electronic medical record (EMR) use for contact tracing is time-consuming and may miss exposed individuals. Real-time location systems (RTLSs) may improve contact identification. Therefore, the relative effectiveness of these 2 contact tracing methodologies were evaluated.MethodsDuring a pertussis outbreak in the United States, a retrospective case study was conducted between June 14 and August 31, 2016, to identify the contacts of confirmed pertussis cases, using EMR and RTLS data in the emergency department of a tertiary care medical center. Descriptive statistics and a paired t test (α = 0.05) were performed to compare contacts identified by EMR versus RTLS, as was correlation between pertussis patient length of stay and the number of potential contacts.ResultsNine cases of pertussis presented to the emergency department during the identified time period. RTLS doubled the potential exposure list (P < .01). Length of stay had significant positive correlation with contacts identified by RTLS (ρ = 0.79; P = .01) but not with EMR (ρ = 0.43; P = .25).ConclusionsRTLS doubled the potential pertussis exposures beyond EMR-based contact identification. Thus, RTLS may be a valuable addition to the practice of contact tracing and infectious disease monitoring.



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Evaluating the direct economic burden of health care–associated infections among patients with colorectal cancer surgery in China

Publication date: Available online 28 September 2017
Source:American Journal of Infection Control
Author(s): Yunhong Liu, Wei Xiao, Shuhui Wang, Carmen W.H. Chan
BackgroundLittle is known about the direct economic burden associated with health care–associated infection (HAI) in patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery in China. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap.MethodsThis study was a prospective monitoring case-control study. The direct economic burden was presented as the median of the 1:1 pair differences of various hospitalization fees and hospital length of stay. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to explore the differences in the direct economic burden.ResultsOut of 448 patients, 38 had acquired HAIs, with the infection incidence being 8.93%. The total direct economic burden of HAIs was $1,589.30 (P < .05). Among various infection sites, deep surgical site infection had the highest direct economic burden of $8,654.44, followed by multisite infections ($5,946.52). When it comes to various hospitalization costs, the cost for Western medicine ($846.13) constituted the highest proportion of economic burden followed by treatment cost ($145.73) and bed charge ($126.75). On average, the length of hospital stay in the infection group was 6 days longer than that in the control group (P < .05).ConclusionsHAI was associated with considerable economic burden for patients who underwent colorectal cancer surgery in China. The study highlights the necessity of taking effective measures to decrease incidence of HAIs to reduce economic burden.



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Modified gloves: A chance for the prevention of nosocomial infections

Publication date: Available online 28 September 2017
Source:American Journal of Infection Control
Author(s): Maxim Gleser, Frank Schwab, Philipp Solbach, Ralf-Peter Vonberg
BackgroundNon-sterile gloves primarily serve as a barrier protection for health care workers (HCWs). However, pathogens may often contaminate the skin of HCWs during glove removal; therefore, pathogens may be further transmitted and cause nosocomial infections.MethodsA field study was conducted comparing contamination rates when using standard gloves or a new modified product equipped with an additional flap (doffing aid) for easier removal. Gloves were removed after bathing gloved hands in an artificial fluorescent lotion. The number of contamination spots was then visually examined using ultraviolet light.ResultsThere were 317 individuals who participated in this study: 146 participants (104 nurses and 42 physicians) used standard gloves, whereas 171 participants (118 nurses and 53 physicians) used the modified product. Use of the modified gloves instead of the standard product (15.8% vs 73.3%, respectively; P < .001) and being a physician rather than a nurse (29.5% vs 47.7%, respectively; P = .003) were the only independent risk factors for reduction of contamination.ConclusionsThis study shows that the modified product could, at least in vitro, significantly reduce the rate of hand and wrist contamination during removal compared with standard gloves. By this, it may significantly improve the overall quality of patient care when used on the wards directly at the patient's site.



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Does surgical site infection after Caesarean section in Polish hospitals reflect high-quality patient care or poor postdischarge surveillance? Results from a 3-year multicenter study

Publication date: Available online 28 September 2017
Source:American Journal of Infection Control
Author(s): Anna Różańska, Andrzej Jarynowski, Katarzyna Kopeć-Godlewska, Jadwiga Wójkowska-Mach, Agnieszka Misiewska-Kaczur, Marzena Lech, Małgorzata Rozwadowska, Marlena Karwacka, Joanna Liberda, Joanna Domańska
BackgroundCaesarean sections (CSs) are associated with a high infection risk. Surgical site infection (SSI) incidence is among the markers of effectiveness of infection prevention efforts. The aim of this study was to analyze risk factors for SSI, incidence, and microbiology in patients who underwent CS.MethodsThe study was conducted during 2013-2015 using active infection surveillance in 5 Polish hospitals according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control surveillance network known as HAI-Net. For each procedure, the following data were registered: age, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, procedure time, elective or emergency procedure, use of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis, microbiology, the treatment used, and other information.ResultsSSI incidence was 0.5% and significant differences were noted among hospitals (between 0.1% and 1.8%), for different American Society of Anesthesiologists scales (between 0.2% and 4.8%) and different values of standardized SSI risk index (between 0.0% and 0.8%). In 3.1% of procedures, with no antibiotic prophylaxis, SSI risk was significantly higher. Deep infections dominated: 61.5% with superficial infections in only approximately 30% of cases and 2.6% of infections were detected postdischarge without readmissions.ConclusionsResults showed high incidence of SSI in Poland without perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis, and secondly, ineffective surveillance according to CS status, considering outpatient obstetric care. Without postdischarge surveillance, it is not possible to recognize the epidemiologic situation, and further, to set priorities and needs when it comes to infection prophylaxis, especially because such low incidence may indicate no need for improvement in infection control.



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Skin antisepsis with 0.05% sodium hypochlorite before central venous catheter insertion in neonates: A 2-year single-center experience

Publication date: Available online 28 September 2017
Source:American Journal of Infection Control
Author(s): Matilde Ciccia, Roksana Chakrokh, Dario Molinazzi, Angela Zanni, Patrizia Farruggia, Fabrizio Sandri
AimThe study reports a 2-year single-center experience of the practice of skin antisepsis using a 0.05% sodium hypochlorite solution before central venous catheter placement in neonates.MethodsEligible subjects included any hospitalized neonate who needed a central line for at least 48 hours. Infants were excluded if they had a generalized or localized skin disorder. An ad hoc Excel (Microsoft Corp, Redmond, WA) file was used to record the data from each patient. The catheter sites were monitored daily for the presence of contact dermatitis. Central line-associated bloodstream infection was diagnosed according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition.ResultsOne hundred five infants underwent central venous catheter placement and were enrolled. A total of 198 central lines were inserted. The median gestational age was 31 weeks (range, 23-41 weeks) and median birth weight was 1,420 g (range, 500-5,170 g). There were no signs of 0.05% sodium hypochlorite-related skin toxicity in any infant. Of 198 catheters (1,652 catheter-days) prospectively studied, 9 were associated with bloodstream infections (5.4 per 1,000 catheter-days).ConclusionDuring the observation period, no local adverse effects were observed suggesting that 0.05% sodium hypochlorite may be a safe choice in this context.



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Interplay of upper and lower motor neuron degeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Publication date: November 2017
Source:Clinical Neurophysiology, Volume 128, Issue 11
Author(s): Mamede de Carvalho, Artiom Poliakov, Cristiano Tavares, Michael Swash
ObjectiveWe studied motor unit recruitment to test a new method to identify motor unit firing rate (FR) variability.MethodsWe studied 68 ALS patients, with and without upper neuron signs (UMN) in lower limbs, 24 patients with primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), 13 patients with spinal cord lesion and 39 normal subjects. All recordings were made from tibialis anterior muscles of normal strength. Subjects performed a very slight contraction in order to activate 2 motor units in each recording. 5–7 motor unit pairs were recorded in each subject. Mean consecutive differences (MCD) were calculated for each pair of potentials. The mean MCD for each muscle was estimated as the mean from the total number of pairs recorded. Ap value<0.01 was accepted as significant.ResultsMCD of FR frequency was less in the subjects with spinal cord lesion and PLS. In addition, the FR frequency of the 1st motor unit in a pair of units was markedly reduced in PLS, and in subjects with spinal cord lesions.ConclusionThese results support a lower threshold and reduced FR fluctuation in spinal motor neurons of spastic patients.SignificanceThis method can be developed for detection of UMN lesions.



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Effects of dynamic changes in histone acetylation and deacetylase activity on pulmonary fibrosis

Publication date: November 2017
Source:International Immunopharmacology, Volume 52
Author(s): Mingwei Li, Yi Zheng, Huihui Yuan, Yuan Liu, Xiaohong Wen
ObjectiveHistone deacetylases (HDACs) play an important role in dysregulation of histone acetylation/deacetylation, which is the main driving force of the progression of pulmonary fibrosis. Here we investigated the changes in histone acetylation/deacetylation, and the contribution of specific class I and class II HDACs in the progression of pulmonary fibrosis.MethodsMale C57BL/6J mice received a single dose of tracheal administration of bleomycin to establish the pulmonary fibrosis model. The changes in acetylation rate of histone 3 (H3) and histone 4 (H4), and the activity of HDAC2 and HDAC4 in the lung tissue during the progression from alveolitis to pulmonary fibrosis were measured.ResultsThe acetylation rate of H3/H4 significantly decreased during alveolitis and the early and middle stages of fibrosis, but restored in the late stage of fibrosis. Correlation analysis showed that H4 deacetylation affected both alveolitis and pulmonary fibrosis. H3 deacetylation only affected alveolitis. HDAC2 activity significantly increased in the middle and late stages of pulmonary fibrosis. There was no significant difference in HDAC4 activity between bleomycin and saline groups. However, HDAC4 activity changed significantly with the progression of the disease in bleomycin group. The changes in HDAC2 and HDAC4 activity were different. HDAC2 had long-lasting effects, while HDAC4 had transient effects. Correlation analysis showed that HDAC2 and HDAC4 activity was positively correlated with alveolitis score and fibrosis score.ConclusionsThe changes in histone acetylation may directly regulate the gene expression of inflammatory cytokines/fibronectin and thus affect the progression of pulmonary fibrosis. The injury-induced histone deacetylation switched into acetylation at the late stage of pulmonary fibrosis, which may be involved in the repair process. HDAC2 is mainly involved in the chronic progression of pulmonary fibrosis, and HDAC4 is mainly involved in early stress response to pulmonary fibrosis.



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Benefit of adaptive CT-based treatment planning in high-dose-rate endorectal brachytherapy for rectal cancer

Publication date: Available online 28 September 2017
Source:Brachytherapy
Author(s): Roy P.J. van den Ende, Eva C. Rijkmans, Ellen M. Kerkhof, Remi A. Nout, Martijn Ketelaars, Mirjam S. Laman, Corrie A.M. Marijnen, Uulke A. van der Heide
PurposeIn this planning study, we investigated the dosimetric benefit of repeat CT-based treatment planning at each fraction vs. the use of a single CT-based treatment plan for all fractions for high-dose-rate endorectal brachytherapy (HDREBT) for rectal cancer.Methods and MaterialsWe included 11 patients that received a CT scan with applicator in situ for all three fractions. The treatment plan of the first fraction was projected on the repeat CT scans to simulate the use of a single treatment plan. In addition, replanning was performed on the repeat CT scans, and these were compared to the corresponding projected treatment plans.ResultsRepeat CT-based treatment planning resulted on average in a 21% higher (p = 0.01) conformity index compared to single CT-based treatment planning. Projecting the initial treatment plan to the repeat CT scans of fraction two and three, 12/22 fractions reached a CTV D98 of 85% of the prescribed dose of 7 Gy, which increased to 14/22 using replanning. For the remaining fractions, median CTV D98 was 4.2 Gy, and an intervention would be necessary to correct applicator balloon setup or to remove remaining air and/or feces between the CTV and the applicator.ConclusionsUsing a single CT-based treatment plan for all fractions may result in a suboptimal treatment at later fractions. Therefore, repeat CT imaging should be the minimal standard practice in HDREBT for rectal cancer to determine whether an intervention would be necessary. Replanning based on repeat CT imaging resulted in more conformal treatment plans and is therefore recommended.



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The validity of Acuros BV and TG-43 for high-dose-rate brachytherapy superficial mold treatments

Publication date: Available online 28 September 2017
Source:Brachytherapy
Author(s): Eeva L. Boman, Thomas W.S. Satherley, Nanette Schleich, Dean B. Paterson, Lynne Greig, Rob J.W. Louwe
PurposeThe purpose of this work is to validate the Acuros BV dose calculation algorithm for high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy superficial mold treatments in the absence of full scatter conditions and compare this with TG-43 dose calculations. We also investigate the impact of additional back scatter material (bolus) applied above surface molds to the dose distributions under the mold.Methods and MaterialsThe absorbed dose at various depths was compared for simulations performed using either TG-43 or Acuros BV dose calculations. Parameter variations included treatment area, thickness of the bolus, and surface shape (flat or spherical). Film measurements were carried out in a flat phantom.ResultsAcuros BV calculations and film measurements agreed within 1.5% but were up to 15% lower than TG-43 dose calculations when no bolus was applied above the treatment catheters. The difference in dose at the prescription depth (1 cm below the central catheter) increased with increasing treatment area: 3.3% difference for a 3 × 3.5 cm² source loading area, 7.4% for 8 × 9 cm², and 13.4% for 18 × 19 cm². The dose overestimation of the TG-43 model decreased when bolus was added above the treatment catheters.ConclusionsThe TG-43 dosimetry formalism cannot model surface mold treatments in the absence of full scatter conditions within 5% for loading areas larger than approximately 5 × 5 cm². The TG-43 model results in an overestimation of the delivered dose, which increases with treatment area. This confirms the need for model-based dose calculation algorithms as discussed in TG-186.



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