Skin pigmentation and genetic variants in an admixed Brazilian population of primarily European ancestry

International Journal of Legal Medicine - Although many genes have been shown to be associated with human pigmentary traits and forensic prediction assays exist (e.g. HIrisPlex-S), the genetic...     

Elucidating the Mechanism of Absorption of Fast-Acting Insulin Aspart: The Role of Niacinamide

Pharmaceutical Research - The aim of this work is to investigate the roles of solute carrier family 22 member 18 (SLC22A18) in lipid metabolism and in establishing the tumor phenotype of HepG2...     

Integration of PET-imaging into radiotherapy treatment planning for low-grade meningiomas improves outcome

European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging - Meningiomas have an excellent survival prognosis, and radiotherapy (RT) is a central component of interdisciplinary treatment. During...     

Predicting effective connectivity from resting‐state networks in healthy elderly and patients with prodromal Alzheimer's disease

Using functional neuroimaging techniques two aspects of functional integration in the human brain have been investigated, functional connectivity and effective connectivity. In this study we examined both connectivity types in parallel within an executive attention network during rest and while performing an attention task. We analyzed the predictive value of resting‐state functional connectivity on task‐induced effective connectivity in patients with prodromal Alzheimer's disease (AD) and healthy elderly. We found that in healthy elderly, functional connectivity was a significant predictor for effective connectivity, however, it was frequency‐specific. Effective top‐down connectivity emerging from prefrontal areas was related with higher frequencies of functional connectivity (e.g., 0.08–0.15 Hz), in contrast to effective bottom‐up connectivity going to prefrontal areas, which was related to lower frequencies of functional connectivity (e.g., 0.001–0.03 Hz). In patients, the prediction of effective connectivity by functional connectivity was disturbed. We conclude that functional connectivity and effective connectivity are interrelated in healthy brains but this relationship is aberrant in very early AD. Hum Brain Mapp 35:954–963, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Outcomes after curative or palliative surgery for locoregional recurrent breast cancer

Background

Locoregional recurrence (LRR) after breast cancer is an independent predictor for later systemic disease and poor long-term outcome. As the surgical treatment is complex and often leaves the patient with extensive defects, reconstructive procedures involving flaps, and thus plastic surgical assistance, are often required. The aim of the present study was to evaluate our institution’s approach to surgical treatment for locoregional recurrence of a breast cancer.

Methods

In the present retrospective, single-centre study, we evaluate our experience with 12 patients who underwent surgery for locally recurrent breast cancer at Aarhus University Hospital between 2006 and 2010. Nine patients underwent wide local excision. The remaining three patients underwent full thickness chest wall resection.

Results

There was no perioperative mortality and no major complications. Minor complications occurred in four (33 %) of the patients. Median overall survival was 22 months, regardless of the surgery being curative or palliative. A median disease-free survival of 18 months was achieved for patients having achieved radicality.

Conclusions

Both wide local excision and full thickness chest wall resection offer the opportunity of local control and palliation in patients with LRR. The plastic surgical reconstructive procedures are associated with a low complication rate, and thus not postponing further adjuvant therapy. However, a multidisciplinary approach with a highly careful patient selection is critical in order to ensure the best outcome for the patient. Level of Evidence: Level IV, therapeutic study.