Combination antiretroviral therapy among immigrant and indigenous HIV infected patients: quality of life and treatment adherence

Hiv-patiënten ervaren door medicijngebruik en hun ziekte veel symptomen. Ook hebben ze een lagere kwaliteit van leven en faalt hun behandeling vaker. De slechte levenskwaliteit vergroot de kans op overlijden en werkt negatief door op therapietrouw. Marion de Boer deed onderzoek naar therapietrouw bij geïmmigreerde en autochtone hiv-patiënten. Het meten van therapietrouw op basis van apotheekgegevens is betrouwbaar en hangt samen met de uitkomst van de behandeling. Zelfrapportage van therapietrouw is minder betrouwbaar omdat sociaal wenselijke antwoorden worden gegeven. De therapietrouw is lager bij immigranten; daardoor slaat therapie minder vaak aan

Relations between M\"obius and coboundary polynomial

It is known that, in general, the coboundary polynomial and the M\"obius polynomial of a matroid do not determine each other. Less is known about more specific cases. In this paper, we will try to answer if it is possible that the M\"obius polynomial of a matroid, together with the M\"obius polynomial of the dual matroid, define the coboundary polynomial of the matroid. In some cases, the answer is affirmative, and we will give two constructions to determine the coboundary polynomial in these cases.Comment: 12 page

Induction of morphological aberrations by enzyme inhibition in Drosophila melanogaster

Zusatz zum Futter vonDrosophila melanogaster von 5-Fluoro-2-deoxyuridin oder Aminopterin induziert überzählige Skutellar- und Dorsozentralborsten sowie gekerbte Flügel. Diese Modifikationen wurden als Konsequenz von Enzymhemmung interpretiert

Terrace Review, May, 28, 1986

Thrombosis and Hemostasi

The Focused Ultrasound Myoma Outcome Study (FUMOS); a retrospective cohort study on long-term outcomes of MR-HIFU therapy

Objectives: Since 2004, uterine fibroids have been treated with MR-HIFU, but there are persevering doubts on long-term efficacy to date. In the Focused Ultrasound Myoma Outcome Study (FUMOS), we evaluated long-term outcomes after MR-HIFU therapy, primarily to assess the reintervention rate. Methods: Data was retrospectively collected from 123 patients treated with MR-HIFU at our hospital from 2010 to 2017. Follow-up duration and baseline (MRI) characteristics were retrieved from medical records. Treatment failures, adverse events, and the nonperfused volume percentage (NPV%) were determined. Patients received a questionnaire about reinterventions, recovery time, satisfaction, and pregnancy outcomes. Restrictive treatment protocols were compared with unrestrictive (aiming for complete ablation) treatments. Subgroups were analyzed based on the achieved NPV < 50 or ≥ 50%. Results: Treatment failures occurred in 12.1% and the number of adverse events was 13.7%. Implementation of an unrestrictive treatment protocol significantly (p = 0.006) increased the mean NPV% from 37.4% [24.3–53.0] to 57.4% [33.5–76.5]. At 63.5 ± 29.0 months follow-up, the overall reintervention rate was 33.3% (n = 87). All reinterventions were performed within 34 months follow-up, but within 21 months in the unrestrictive group. The reintervention rate significantly (p = 0.002) decreased from 48.8% in the restrictive group (n = 43; follow-up 87.5 ± 7.3 months) to 18.2% in the unrestrictive group (n = 44; follow-up 40.0 ± 22.1 months). The median recovery time was 2.0 [1.0–7.0] days. Treatment satisfaction rate was 72.4% and 4/11 women completed family planning after MR-HIFU. Conclusions: The unrestrictive treatment protocol significantly increased the NPV%. Unrestrictive MR-HIFU treatments led to acceptable reintervention rates comparable to other reimbursed uterine-sparing treatments, and no reinterventions were reported beyond 21 months follow-up. Key Points: • All reinterventions were performe

Characteristics and quality of oral anticoagulation treatment in pediatric patients in the Netherlands based on the CAPS cohort

Essentials: The knowledge of quality and safety of acenocoumarol and phenprocoumon use in children is limited. We used data from a multicenter retrospective follow-up study in children in the Netherlands. The quality of anticoagulation control in the first month of use was low, but improved thereafter. No thromboembolic events occurred, however bleeding events occurred in 1-3 out of 10 patients. Summary: Background: The use of vitamin-K antagonists in pediatric patients is rare and information on the quality and safety of treatment with acenocoumarol and phenprocoumon is limited. Objectives: To assess the quality, safety and effectiveness during the first year of acenocoumarol and phenprocoumon treatment in pediatric patients in the Netherlands. Methods: The Children Anticoagulation and Pharmacogenetics Study (C

Development and clinical evaluation of a 3-step modified manipulation protocol for MRI-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound of uterine fibroids

__Objectives:__ The clinical applicability of magnetic resonance image−guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) treatment of uterine fibroids is often limited due to inaccessible fibroids or bowel interference. The aim of this study was to implement a newly developed 3-step modified manipulation protocol and to evaluate its influence on the number of eligible women and treatment fai

Paradoxical effect of baclofen on social behavior in the fragile X syndrome mouse model

Introduction: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a common monogenetic cause of intellectual disability, autism spectrum features, and a broad range of other psychiatric and medical problems. FXS is caused by the lack of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), a translational regulator of specific mRNAs at the postsynaptic compartment. The absence of FMRP leads to aberrant synaptic plasticity, which is believed to be caused by an imbalance in excitatory and inhibitory network functioning of the synapse. Evidence from studies in mice demonstrates that GABA, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, and its receptors, is involved in the pathogenesis of FXS. Moreover, several FXS phenotypes, including social behavior deficits, could be corrected in Fmr1 KO mice after acute treatment with GABAB agonists. Methods: As FXS would probably require a lifelong treatment, we investigated the effect of chronic treatment with the GABAB agonist baclofen on social behavior in Fmr1 KO mice on two behavioral paradigms for social behavior: the automated tube test and the three-chamber sociability test. Results: Unexpectedly, chronic baclofen treatment resulted in worsening of the FXS phenotypes in these behavior tests. Strikingly, baclofen treatment also affected wild-type animals in both behavioral tests, inducing a phenotype similar to that of untreated Fmr1 KO mice. Conclusion: Altogether, the disappointing results of recent clinical trials with the R-baclofen enantiomer arbaclofen and our current results indicate that baclofen should be reconsidered and further evaluated before its application in targeted treatment for FXS

Early systemic microvascular damage in pigs with atherogenic diabetes mellitus coincides with renal angiopoietin dysbalance

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with a range of microvascular complications including diabetic nephropathy (DN). Microvascular abnormalities in the kidneys are common histopathologic findings in DN, which represent one manifestation of ongoing systemic microvascular damage. Recently, sidestream dark-field (SDF) imaging has emerged as a noninvasive tool that enables one to visualize the microcirculation. In this study, we investigated whether changes in the systemic microvasculature induced by DM and an atherogenic diet correlated spatiotemporally with renal damage. Methods: Atherosclerotic lesion development was triggered in streptozotocin-induced DM pigs (140 mg/kg body weight) by administering an atherogenic diet for approximately 11 months. Fifteen months following induction of DM, microvascular morphology was visualized in control pigs (n = 7), non-diabetic pigs fed an atherogenic diet (ATH, n = 5), and DM pigs fed an atherogenic diet (DM+ATH, n = 5) using SDF imaging of oral mucosal tissue. Subsequently, kidneys were harvested from anethesized pigs and the expression levels of well-established markers for microvascular integrity, such as Angiopoietin-1 (Angpt1) and Angiopoietin-2 (Angpt2) were determined immunohistochemically, while endothelial cell (EC) abundance was determined by immunostaining for von Willebrand factor (vWF). Results: Our study revealed an increase in the capillary tortuosity index in DM+ATH pigs (2.31±0.17) as compared to the control groups (Controls 0.89±0.08 and ATH 1.55±0.11; p<0.05). Kidney biopsies showed marked glomerular lesions consisting of mesangial expansion and podocyte lesions. Furthermore, we observed a disturbed Angpt2/ Angpt1balance in the cortex of the kidney, as evidenced by increased expression of Angpt2 in DM+ATH pigs as compared to Control pigs (p<0.05). Conclusion: In the setting of DM, atherogenesis leads to the augmentation of mucosal capillary tortuosity, indicative of systemic microvascular damage. Concomitantly, a dysbalance in renal angiopoietins was correlated with the development of diabetic nephropathy. As such, our studies strongly suggest that defects in the systemic microvasculature mirror the accumulation of microvascular damage in the kidney