Can radiomics improve the prediction of metastatic relapse of myxoid/round cell liposarcomas?

European Radiology - The strongest adverse prognostic factor in myxoid/round cell liposarcomas (MRC-LPS) is the presence of a round cell component above 5% within the tumor bulk. Its identification...     

Personal trauma among healthcare providers: implications for screening practices

ABSTRACT

Screening rates for trauma are low in health care settings. We examined the association between health care providers’ (HCPs) experience of physical or sexual trauma and their screening of female patients for trauma. HCPs at an urban academic medical institution were surveyed from September through November 2016. The Brief Trauma (BTQ) and Sexual and Physical Abuse History Questionnaires (SPAHQ) assessed their own experiences of trauma. The Screening Practices Questionnaire (SPQ) assessed HCPs trauma screening. Multiple regression analyses were performed. Among 212 respondents aged 22–67 years, most were female (78.3%) and white (76.1%). Nurses (41.0%) were the largest occupational group. Overall, 85.8% reported having experienced trauma. No significant difference was observed in median SPQ scores between HCPs who had experienced trauma (3.88 [Interquartile Range (IQR) 3.44–4.31]) and those who had not (4.00 [IQR 3.47–4.33], p = .645). In an adjusted model, screening policy awareness and having an obstetrics & gynecology or psychiatry specialty were associated with higher SPQ scores (p < .001). The prevalence of trauma experience in this sample was high, but not associated with screening. Screening policy awareness and practice specialty were associated with screening. HCP factors associated with greater trauma screening should be explored.     

Epitope load identifies kidney transplant recipients at risk of allosensitization following minimization of immunosuppression

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Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF): a second-generation platelet concentrate. Part I: technological concepts and evolution.

Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) belongs to a new generation of platelet concentrates geared to simplified preparation without biochemical blood handling. In this initial article, we describe the conceptual and technical evolution from fibrin glues to platelet concentrates. This retrospective analysis is necessary for the understanding of fibrin technologies and the evaluation of the biochemical properties of 3 generations of surgical additives, respectively fibrin adhesives, concentrated platelet-rich plasma (cPRP) and PRF. Indeed, the 3-dimensional fibrin architecture is deeply dependent on artificial clinical polymerization processes, such as massive bovine thrombin addition. Currently, the slow polymerization during PRF preparation seems to generate a fibrin network very similar to the natural one. Such a network leads to a more efficient cell migration and proliferation and thus cicatrization.     

Immigrants et tuberculose : données épidémiologiques récentes

Immigrants, and especially those recently arrived in host countries, are a high-risk group for tuberculosis. In 2006 in France, nearly half of the new cases of tuberculosis were reported in this group. The incidence rate among people born abroad was about seven times higher than that observed in people born in France (38.9/10⁵ vs 5.2/10⁵). The incidence was also the highest in districts with a high proportion of socioeconomically vulnerable population, such as Paris and greater Paris area. The characteristics of French born and non-French born cases differed. Patients born abroad were less likely to have pulmonary tuberculosis (68.2% vs 78.2; p < 0.001) and were more likely to live in institutions (such as migrant shelters) and to harbor multiresistant tuberculosis strains. A national tuberculosis control program was launched in France in 2007, to decrease the prevalence of tuberculosis in targeted populations.     

Greater efficacy of pulsatile insulin in type I diabetics critically depends on plasma glucagon levels

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of plasma glucagon levels on the blood glucose response to intravenous insulin administered continuously or in a pulsatile manner. Six type I diabetic patients proven to have no residual insulin secretion were investigated. Endogenous glucagon secretion was inhibited by a continuous intravenous infusion of somatostatin (100 micrograms/h) and replaced by exogenous infusions of the hormone at three different rates (7.5, 4.5, and 2.5 micrograms/h), resulting in three different plasma glucagon steady-state levels (i.e., approximately equal to 200, approximately equal to 130, and approximately equal to 75 pg/ml, respectively). Each subject, in random order and on different days, was infused intravenously with regular human insulin either continuously (0.17 mU X kg-1 X min-1) or with the same amount of insulin infused in a pulsatile manner (0.85 mU X kg-1 X min-1 during 2 min followed by 8 min during which no insulin was infused). At plasma glucagon levels approximately equal to 200 pg/ml, blood glucose rose from approximately 10 to approximately 13 mM without any difference between the two modalities of insulin infusion. For plasma glucagon levels approximately equal to 130 pg/ml, plasma glucose remained steady throughout the experiments, but during the last 40 min, plasma glucose levels were significantly lower when insulin was administered intermittently. This greater blood glucose-lowering effect of pulsatile insulin occurred earlier and was more pronounced for plasma glucagon levels averaging 75 pg/ml. We conclude that the greater hypoglycemic effect of insulin administered intravenously in a pulsatile manner in type I diabetics critically depends on plasma glucagon circulating levels.     

Schwangerschaft. Fehlgeburt. Geburt. Kindesmord

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Effects of Anesthetic Agents on Focal Adhesion Kinase (pp125FAK) Tyrosine Phosphorylation in Rat Hippocampal Slices

Background: Tyrosine protein kinase proteins exert a prominent control on signaling pathways and may couple rapid events, such as action potential and neurotransmitter release, to long-lasting changes in synaptic strength and survival. Whether anesthetics modulate tyrosine kinase activity remains unknown. The aim of the current study was therefore to examine the effects of intravenous and volatile anesthetics on the phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (pp125FAK), a functionally important nonreceptor tyrosine kinase, in the rat hippocampus.

Methods: Phosphorylation of pp125FAK was examined in hippocampal slices by immunoblotting with both antiphosphotyrosine and specific anti-pp125FAK antibodies. Experiments were performed in the absence (control) or presence of various concentrations of pharmacologic or anesthetic agents or both.

Results: Clinically relevant concentrations of thiopental, propofol, etomidate, isoflurane, sevoflurane, and desflurane induced a concentration-related increase in tyrosine phosphorylation. In contrast, ketamine (up to 100 [mu]m) and the nonimmobilizer F6 (1,2-dichlorohexafluorocyclobutane, 25 [mu]m) did not significantly affect pp125FAK phosphorylation. The anesthetic-induced increase in pp125FAK phosphorylation was blocked by GF 109203X, RO 318220, and chelerythrin (100 [mu]m), three structurally distinct inhibitors of protein kinase C and U 73122 (50 [mu]m), an inhibitor of phospholipase C. The propofol- and isoflurane-induced increase in pp125FAK phosphorylation was reversible and showed nonadditivity of effects with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (an activator of protein kinase C, 0.1 [mu]m). In contrast, ketamine (up to 100 [mu]m), MK801 (10 [mu]m, an N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist), bicuculline (10 [mu]m, a [gamma]-aminobutyric acid type A receptor antagonist), and dantrolene (30 [mu]m, an inhibitor of the ryanodine receptor) were ineffective in blocking anesthetic-induced activation of tyrosine phosphorylation.