Attitudes Towards Bariatric Surgery in the General Public

Background

Prevalence rates of obesity are still rising. Weight loss surgery (WLS) is the most invasive but also most effective treatment option when behavioral modification has failed. Research indicates that health care professionals hold ambivalent views on bariatric surgery, while views of the general public have not yet been investigated.

Methods

In a German representative sample of n?=?3,003 respondents in a computer-assisted telephone interview, n?=?1,008 persons were interviewed on their views of the effectiveness of bariatric surgery and other interventions for obesity. Also, willingness to recommend a treatment was assessed.

Results

Lifestyle-based interventions were viewed as most effective in terms of weight loss. About 50 % of the population stated that WLS is “very effective” while still a quarter of respondents did not ascribe effectiveness to WLS. Higher age was associated with lower expectations of effectiveness while higher stigmatizing attitudes and genetic attributes for obesity were associated with higher expectations of effectiveness. Seventy-two percent would not recommend WLS or undergo it, if applicable, themselves. Higher educated respondents and those that viewed WLS as effective were more likely to recommend WLS.

Conclusions

The German general public seems to be rather cautious regarding bariatric surgery. It may be assumed that false beliefs on the effectiveness and risk patterns of bariatric surgery are still very common, despite rising surgery numbers. Our results further emphasize the need for providing evidence-based information on bariatric surgery to the general public.     

A common polymorphism in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene in patients with adult-onset primary focal and segmental dystonia

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) modulates neuroplasticity. A functional polymorphism [Val66Met (G196A)] in BDNF has been reported to modify cortical plasticity in humans. Physiologic investigations have revealed that dystonia might be a consequence of the pathologic plasticity of the sensorimotor cortex. We aimed to investigate the role of the Val66Met polymorphism in a cohort of Serbian patients with adult-onset primary focal and segmental dystonia (PTD). One hundred and forty-nine patients with primary adult-onset PTD, 194 patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), and 366 healthy control subjects were recruited for the study. Patients with PTD and PD, as well as healthy controls had a similar distribution of genotypes and allele frequencies. There was no any significant difference in the allelic distribution at the Val66Met SNP of the BDNF gene among patients with adult-onset PTD, PD, and healthy volunteers from the same geographic areas. In addition, the presence of the Met allele did not influence the clinical characteristics of PTD patients. Patients with the Met variant did not differ by age at onset, number of affected regions, and efficacy of a sensory trick. Met66Met is not associated with an increased risk of dystonia.     

Validation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Self-Assessment Disability Scale in patients with Parkinson’s disease in Serbia

The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) worsen over time affecting performance and causing disability. The purpose of this study was to translate the Self-Assessment Disability Scale in patients with Parkinson's disease (SADS-PD) into the Serbian language and assess its validity and reliability. From January to July 2012, 114 consecutive PD patients were recruited at the Neurology Clinic in Belgrade. The inclusion criteria were: ability to walk independently for at least 10 m, ability to stand for at least 90 s. The exclusion criteria were: cognitive impairment, the presence of other major neurologic, psychiatric, visual, audio-vestibular, and orthopedic disturbances. The 25-item SADS-PD was translated according to internationally-accepted methodology. The internal consistency of the scale was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Test–retest reliability was evaluated using Kendall’s concordance coefficient for total scores. To evaluate construct validity, an exploratory factor analysis (principal component analysis, varimax rotation) was performed. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.984. Kendall’s concordance coefficient was 0.994. Duration of the disease, Hoehn & Yahr (H&Y) stage, Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor score, history of falls, Hamilton’s Depression and Anxiety Rating Scales (HDRS and HARS) scores were significantly correlated with the total SADS-PD score. On factor analysis 25 items in the SADS-PD questionnaire were separated in two clusters with total matrix variance of 79.7 %. The psychometric properties of the cross-culturally adapted SADS-PD questionnaire (Serbian version) have outstanding validity and reliability as an instrument for evaluation of the extent of disability in patients with PD.     

Numerical assessment of radiation binary targeted therapy for HER-2 positive breast cancers: advanced calculations and radiation dosimetry

In our previous publication (Mundy et al 2006 Phys. Med. Biol. 51 1377) we have described the theoretical assessment of our novel approach in radiation binary targeted therapy for HER-2 positive breast cancers and summarized the future directions in this area of research. In this paper we advanced the numerical analysis to show the detailed radiation dose distribution for various neutron sources in combination with the required boron concentration and allowed radiation skin doses. We once again proved the feasibility of the concept and will use these data and conclusions to start with the experimental verifications.     

Biological evaluation of selected 3,4‐dihydro‐2(1H)‐quinoxalinones and 3,4‐dihydro‐1,4‐benzoxazin‐2‐ones: Molecular docking study

In order to investigate new potential therapeutically active agents, we investigated the biological properties of two small libraries of quinoxalinones and 1,4‐benzoxazin‐2‐ones. The results obtained showed that compounds 5 , 9–11 have good cytotoxic activity against HeLa cells where the lowest IC₅₀ value (10.46 ± 0.82 μM/mL) was measured for compound 10 . Additionally, the most active compounds ( 5 , 9 – 11 ) showed much better selectivity for MRC‐5 cells (up to 17.4) compared to cisplatin. In vitro evaluation of the inhibition of the enzyme α‐glucosidase showed that compounds 10 and 11 exert significant inhibition of the enzyme at 52.54 ± 0.09 and 40.09 ± 0.49 μM, respectively. Competitive experiments with ethidium bromide (EB) indicated that all tested compounds have affinity to displace EB from the EB‐DNA complex through intercalation, suggesting good competition with EB (K_sv = (3.1 ± 0.2), (5.1 ± 0.1), (5.6 ± 0.2), and (6.3 ± 0.2) × 10³ M^?1). A molecular docking study was also performed to better understand the binding modes and to conclude the structure–activity relationships of the synthesized compounds.