Omega-3 fatty acids (ω-3 FAs) exert anti-inflammatory effects, including the downregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, eicosanoids, and insulin-like growth factor-1. Therefore, they may improve ...acne severity as an adjunct treatment. However, there is a paucity of data regarding patients' existing deficits. The aim of this study was to determine ω-3 FA levels in acne patients in correlation with self-reported dietary preferences and clinical severity. A single-center, cross-sectional study of 100 acne patients was conducted. Patients' blood parameters, including ω-3 FAs levels, were assessed using the HS-omega-3 Index
in erythrocytes (Omegametrix
GmbH, Martinsried, Germany). Dietary preferences were assessed using a standardized food frequency questionnaire. Clinical dermatologic evaluation was performed using the Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) of acne. The values of the HS-omega-3 Index
were outside the recommended range of 8-11% in 96 patients (mean 5.15%), independent of the clinical severity or affected anatomic sites. A severe deficit (HS-omega-3 Index
< 4%) was seen more commonly in men than in women (
= 0.021). The regular consumption of legumes was significantly associated with higher ω-3 FA levels (
= 0.003), as was oral ω-3 FA supplementation (
= 0.006) and the lack of sunflower oil intake (
= 0.008). This pilot study demonstrated a deficit of ω-3 FAs in a German acne cohort. Higher ω-3 FAs levels were observed in patients with regular legume intake and oral ω-3 FAs supplementation. Further prospective studies are needed to investigate whether the clinical severity of acne improves in patients with normal HS-omega-3 Index
.
The two pillars of therapy for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) are upfront surgery and primary chemoradiotherapy. Substantial regional preferences exist with regard to the selection of ...treatment. Despite new therapeutic approaches, patient survival remains poor, with an approximate overall survival (OS) rate of 50% at five years. This study was conducted to investigate a potential survival benefit depending on the treatment modality in OPSCC patients. We retrospectively collected data of 853 patients with histologically confirmed OPSCC from the Giessen and Maastricht cancer databases. To identify risk factors affecting survival, a Cox-proportional hazard model was applied to 442 patients with complete data sets. Based on this cohort a matched-pair analysis with 158 patients was performed to compare OS rates of patients treated either with upfront surgery or primary chemoradiation. For the collective cohort, patients treated with upfront surgery had significantly improved OS rates compared to patients treated with primary chemoradiation. In the matched-pair analysis adjusted for patients’ T-, N- and HPV-status as well as risk profile, we observed that both treatment approaches offered equivalent OS rates. Our study emphasizes that treatment recommendations should be made whenever possible on the basis of side-effect profiles caused by the therapeutic approach used. To draw further conclusions, results of the ongoing “best of” (NCT2984410) study are eagerly awaited, investigating the functional outcome after treatment of OPSCC patients.
Genome-wide analysis (GWA) is an effective strategy to discover extreme effects surpassing genome-wide significant levels in studying complex disorders; however, when sample size is limited, the true ...effects may fail to achieve genome-wide significance. In such case, there may be authentic results among the pools of nominal candidates, and an alternative approach is to consider nominal candidates but are replicable across different samples. Here, we found that mRNA expression of the choline dehydrogenase gene (
CHDH
) was uniformly upregulated in the brains of bipolar disorder (BPD) patients compared with healthy controls across different studies. Follow-up genetic analyses of
CHDH
variants in multiple independent clinical datasets (including 11,564 cases and 17,686 controls) identified a risk SNP rs9836592 showing consistent associations with BPD (
P
meta
= 5.72 × 10
−4
), and the risk allele indicated an increased
CHDH
expression in multiple neuronal tissues (lowest
P
= 6.70 × 10
−16
). These converging results may identify a nominal but true BPD susceptibility gene
CHDH
. Further exploratory analysis revealed suggestive associations of rs9836592 with childhood intelligence (
P
= 0.044) and educational attainment (
P
= 0.0039), a “proxy phenotype” of general cognitive abilities. Intriguingly, the
CHDH
gene is located at chromosome 3p21.1, a risk region implicated in previous BPD genome-wide association studies (GWAS), but
CHDH
is lying outside of the core GWAS linkage disequilibrium (LD) region, and our studied SNP rs9836592 is ∼1.2 Mb 3′ downstream of the previous GWAS loci (e.g., rs2251219) with no LD between them; thus, the association observed here is unlikely a reflection of previous GWAS signals. In summary, our results imply that
CHDH
may play a previously unknown role in the etiology of BPD and also highlight the informative value of integrating gene expression and genetic code in advancing our understanding of its biological basis.
The aim of this ex vivo study was to investigate the influence of different insertion torques on primary stability of a conical and a cylindrical implant system.
Thirty-two dental implants (Astra ...Tech OsseoSpeed 5.0 S × 11 mm cylindrical n = 16 and 5.0 × 11 mm conical n = 16) were inserted with 20, 30, 40, and 45 N·cm into fresh porcine bone of mixed trabecular-cortical quality. Before insertion, bone quality was assessed via cone beam tomography. After insertion, resonance frequency analysis was reported using the implant stability quotient (ISQ). Implant insertion depths were evaluated, and the implants were pushed out of the bone by force (measured in N). All experiments were done with n = 4 per group.
The highest ISQ (mean 78.25 ± 2.9) and pushout values (mean 675 N ± 5.8) were measured for the cylindrical implant after insertion using 30 N·cm. The conical implant showed the highest primary stability by means of ISQ (mean 76.25 ± 2.2) and pushout force (mean 502.5 N ± 9.6) after an insertion torque of 40 N·cm. If more insertion force was used, primary stability was reduced in all cases.
The data indicate that different forms of an implant system need different insertion torques to obtain an optimal primary stability. These results have to be verified clinically.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most frequent neurodegenerative movement disorder. Early diagnosis and effective therapy monitoring is an important prerequisite to treat patients and reduce health ...care costs. Objective and non-invasive assessment strategies are an urgent need in order to achieve this goal. In this study we apply a mobile, lightweight and easy applicable sensor based gait analysis system to measure gait patterns in PD and to distinguish mild and severe impairment of gait. Examinations of 16 healthy controls, 14 PD patients in an early stage, and 13 PD patients in an intermediate stage were included. Subjects performed standardized gait tests while wearing sport shoes equipped with inertial sensors (gyroscopes and accelerometers). Signals were recorded wirelessly, features were extracted, and distinct subpopulations classified using different classification algorithms. The presented system is able to classify patients and controls (for early diagnosis) with a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 86%. In addition it is possible to distinguish mild from severe gait impairment (for therapy monitoring) with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. This system may be able to objectively classify PD gait patterns providing important and complementary information for patients, caregivers and therapists.
The increasing adoption of process-aware information systems (PAISs) has resulted in large process model collections. To support users having different perspectives on these processes and related ...data, a PAIS should provide personalized views on process models. Existing PAISs, however, do not provide mechanisms for creating or even changing such process views. Especially, changing process models is a frequent use case in PAISs due to changing needs or unplanned situations. While process views have been used as abstractions for visualizing large process models, no work exists on how to change process models based on respective views. This paper presents an approach for changing large process models through updates of corresponding process views, while ensuring up-to-dateness and consistency of all other process views on the process model changed. Respective update operations can be applied to a process view and corresponding changes be correctly propagated to the underlying process model. Furthermore, all other views related to this process model are then migrated to the new version of the process model as well. Overall, our view framework enables domain experts to evolve large process models over time based on appropriate model abstractions.
Maturation of enterocytes along the small intestinal crypt-villus axis is associated with significant changes in gene expression profiles. fls485 coding a putative chaperone protein has been recently ...suggested as a gene involved in this process. The aim of the present study was to analyze fls485 expression in human small intestinal mucosa.
fls485 expression in purified normal or intestinal mucosa affected with celiac disease was investigated with a molecular approach including qRT-PCR, Western blotting, and expression strategies. Molecular data were corroborated with several in situ techniques and usage of newly synthesized mouse monoclonal antibodies.
fls485 mRNA expression was preferentially found in enterocytes and chromaffine cells of human intestinal mucosa as well as in several cell lines including Rko, Lovo, and CaCo2 cells. Western blot analysis with our new anti-fls485 antibodies revealed at least two fls485 proteins. In a functional CaCo2 model, an increase in fls485 expression was paralleled by cellular maturation stage. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated fls485 as a cytosolic protein with a slightly increasing expression gradient along the crypt-villus axis which was impaired in celiac disease Marsh IIIa-c.
Expression and synthesis of fls485 are found in surface lining epithelia of normal human intestinal mucosa and deriving epithelial cell lines. An interdependence of enterocyte differentiation along the crypt-villus axis and fls485 chaperone activity might be possible.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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