320 research outputs found

    Association between genetic polymorphisms in apoptosis-related genes and risk of cutaneous melanoma in women and men

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    The P53 Arg72Pro, MDM2 c.+309T > G, BAX c.-248G > A, and BCL2 c.-717C > A polymorphisms have variable roles in the apoptosis pathways. The P53 Arg72Pro, MDM2 c.+309T > G, BAX c.-248G > A, and BCL2 c.-717C > A polymorphisms have variable roles in the apoptosis pathways. Genomic DNA of 200 CM patients and 215 controls was analyzed by PCR-RFLP. In women, the frequencies of BAX GG (83.0% vs. 71.0%, P = 0.04), BM AA (32.0% vs. 15.0%, P = 0.003), P53 ArgArg plus BAX GG (84.9% vs. 63.2%, P = 0.01), P53 ArgArg plus BCL2 AA (37.0% vs. 13.1%, P = 0.003), BAX GG plus BCL2 AA (70.3% vs. 33.3%, P = 0.001), MDM2 GG plus BAX GG plus BCL2 AA (27.3% vs. 3.7%, P = 0.03), and P53 ArgArg plus MDM2 GG plus BAX GG plus BCL2 AA (33.3% vs. 5.6%, P = 0.04) genotypes were higher in patients than in controls. Female carriers of the respective genotypes were under 1.98 (95% CI: 1.01-3.91), 2.87 (95% CI: 1.43-5.77), 3.48 (95% CI: 1.34-9.04), 4.23 (95% CI: 1.63-10.96), 6.04 (95% CI: 2.10-17.37), 25.61 (95% CI: 1.29-507.24), and 25.69 (95% CI: 1.11-593.59)-fold increased risks for CM than others, respectively. In men, the frequencies of BCL2 CA + AA (83.0% vs. 67.6%, P = 0.01) and MDM2 TG + GG plus BCL2 CA + AA (94.2% vs. 68.3%, P = 0.003) genotypes were higher in patients than in controls. Male carriers of the respective genotypes were under 2.43 (95% CI: 1.23-4.82) and 9.22 (95% CI: 2.16-39.31)-fold increased CM risks than others, respectively. The data suggest for the first time that P53 Arg72Pro, MDM2 c.+309T > G, BAX c.-248G > A, and BCL2 c.-717C > A polymorphisms, enrolled in apoptosis pathways, constitute distinct determinants of CM in women and men742135141FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP2009/12602-0; 2010/18904-

    Iatrogenic encephalocele: a rare complication of vacuum extraction delivery

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    Vacuum extraction is a frequently used form of assisted vaginal delivery. Here we describe a child who was born by vacuum extraction delivery. Days after the birth, a frontal swelling, which was thought to be a caput succedaneum, enlarged. Imaging revealed an iatrogenic encephalocele with a large subcutaneous CSF collection. Surgical reconstruction was performed. A parasagittal dura defect was closed. There was no involvement of the superior sagittal sinus. To our knowledge, encephalocele is an infrequent complication of vacuum extraction delivery, rarely described in literature. The child had a good recovery after the operation, without neurologic deficits

    Di- and Tri-nuclear VIII^{III} and CrIII^{III} Complexes of Dipyridyltriazoles: Ligand Rearrangements, Mixed Valency and Ferromagnetic Coupling

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    The first dinuclear and trinuclear chromium(III) and dinuclear vanadium(III) complexes of N4^{4}-R-substituted-3,5-di(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazole (Rdpt) ligands have been prepared by solvothermal complexations under inert atmospheres, and characterized. The reactions of CrIII^{III} and VIII^{III} with adpt (R = amino) resulted in deamination of the ligand and yielded the dinuclear doubly-triazolate bridged complexes [V2III_{2}^{III}(dpt−^{-})2_{2}Cl4_{4}] (1) and [Cr2III_{2}^{III}(dpt−^{-})2_{2}Cl4_{4}] (2). In the case of the CrIII^{III} complex 2 this bridging results in a rare example of ferromagnetic coupling for a dinuclear CrIII^{III} compound. DFT studies confirm that in 2 the ferromagnetic coupling pathways dominate over the antiferromagnetic pathways, whereas in 1 the reverse occurs, consistent with the observed overall antiferromagnetic coupling in that case. It was also found that the use of different additives in the reaction allows the nuclearity of the CrIII^{III} product to be manipulated, giving either the dinuclear system, or the first example of a trinuclear circular helicate for a Rdpt complex, [Cr3III_{3}^{III}(dpt)3_{3}Cl6_{6}]·1¾MeCN·¼DCM (3). Reaction of N4^{4}-pydpt (R = 4-pyridyl) with VIII^{III} led to an unusual shift of the pyridyl substituent from N4^{4} to N1^{1} of the triazole, forming the ligand isomer N1^{1}-pydpt, and giving a dinuclear doubly-triazole bridged complex, [V2III_{2}^{III}(N1^{1}-pydpt)2_{2}Cl6_{6}]·2MeCN (4). Reaction with CrIII^{III} results in loss of the 4-pyridyl ring and a mixture of the di- and trinuclear complexes, 2 and 3. Interestingly, partial oxidation of the VIII^{III} in dinuclear complex 4 to vanadyl VIV^{IV}=O was identified by crystallographic analysis of partially oxidized single crystals, [(VIV^{IV}O)0.84_{0.84}(VIII^{III})1.16_{1.16}(N1^{1}-pydpt)2_{2}Cl5.16_{5.16}] 0.84H2_{2}O 1.16MeCN (5)

    Dutch translation and adaptation of the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS)

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    Background: Based on his model of self-regulation and executive functions, Barkley developed a self- and other-report questionnaire (the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale – BDEFS). The BDEFS measures deficits in executive functions as expressed in daily life activities like self-management of time, self-organization, self-restraint, self-motivation, and self-regulation of emotion. Objectives: This study created and analyzed a Dutch translation and adaptation in conformance with official guidelines. Methods: The Dutch and English BDEFS were completed by 25 bilingual Dutch adults to evaluate semantic correspondence. Consequently, 60 Dutch participants completed the Dutch BDEFS, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-Eleventh edition (BIS-11) and the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX) to evaluate concurrent validity and internal consistency. Results: The versions demonstrated sufficient semantic equivalence and Spearman’s rho of total scores was high; items mostly showed moderate-to-high correlations. Regression analysis showed no proportional bias. Internal consistency was also high. Correlations between BDEFS, BIS-11 and DEX supported concurrent validity. Discussion: We conclude that a successful BDEFS translation and adaptation was created with satisfactory reliability and validity. Further research should assess the utility of the BDEFS in Dutch clinical practice

    Surgical clipping as the preferred treatment for aneurysms of the middle cerebral artery

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    In recent years the endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms (coiling) has progressively gained recognition, particularly after the publication of the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT) in 2002. Despite the fact that in ISAT middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysms were clearly underrepresented, the study is often used as an argument to favor coiling above surgery in MCA aneurysms. Taken into account that MCA aneurysms are very well accessible for surgery, a contemporary assessment of the benefits of a preferred surgical strategy for MCA aneurysms was performed in a tertiary neurovascular referral center. A prospectively kept single-center database of 151 consecutive patients with an MCA aneurysm was reviewed over a 6-year period (2001-2006). Long-term follow-up after surgical treatment of a ruptured MCA aneurysm was obtained in 74 out of 77 (96%) patients. The outcome was compared with relevant series in the literature. After a mean follow-up of 4.7 years, 59 out of 74 surgically treated patients (80%) with a ruptured MCA aneurysm had a good outcome (mRankin 0-2). All patients with an unruptured MCA aneurysm also had a good outcome after clipping. This is well-matched with the findings of the literature search, and competitive with the endovascular results. Surgical clipping is recommended as the principal treatment strategy for MCA aneurysms. This is not only ethically defendable in view of the surgical results but also in line with a strategy to maintain surgical experience within centralized neurovascular centers

    Investigation of attentional bias in obsessive compulsive disorder with and without depression in visual search

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    Copyright: © 2013 Morein-Zamir et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedWhether Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is associated with an increased attentional bias to emotive stimuli remains controversial. Additionally, it is unclear whether comorbid depression modulates abnormal emotional processing in OCD. This study examined attentional bias to OC-relevant scenes using a visual search task. Controls, non-depressed and depressed OCD patients searched for their personally selected positive images amongst their negative distractors, and vice versa. Whilst the OCD groups were slower than healthy individuals in rating the images, there were no group differences in the magnitude of negative bias to concern-related scenes. A second experiment employing a common set of images replicated the results on an additional sample of OCD patients. Although there was a larger bias to negative OC-related images without pre-exposure overall, no group differences in attentional bias were observed. However, OCD patients subsequently rated the images more slowly and more negatively, again suggesting post-attentional processing abnormalities. The results argue against a robust attentional bias in OCD patients, regardless of their depression status and speak to generalized difficulties disengaging from negative valence stimuli. Rather, post-attentional processing abnormalities may account for differences in emotional processing in OCD.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

    Study on intracranial meningioma using PET ligand investigation during follow-up over years (SIMPLIFY)

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    Purpose Radiologic follow-up of patients with a meningioma at the skull base or near the venous sinuses with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) and neurosurgical resection(s) can be difficult to interpret. This study evaluates the addition of C-11-methionine positron emission tomography (MET-PET) to the regular MRI follow-up. Methods This prospective pilot study included patients with predominantly WHO grade I meningiomas at the skull base or near large vascular structures. Previous SRT was part of their oncological treatment. A MET-PET in adjunct to their regular MRI follow-up was performed. The standardized uptake value (SUV) was determined for the tumor and the healthy brain, on the pre-SRT target delineation MET-PET and the follow-up MET-PET. Tumor-to-normal ratios were calculated, and C-11-methionine uptake over time was analyzed. Agreement between the combined MRI/MET-PET report and the MRI-only report was determined using Cohen's kappa. Results Twenty patients with stable disease underwent an additional MET-PET, with a median follow-up of 84 months after SRT. Post-SRT SUV T/N ratios ranged between 2.16 and 3.17. When comparing the pre-SRT and the post-SRT MET-PET, five categories of SUV T/N ratios did not change significantly. Only the SUVpeak T/N-cortex decreased significantly from 2.57 (SD 1.02) to 2.20 (SD 0.87) [p = 0.004]. A kappa of 0.77 was found, when comparing the MRI/MET-PET report to the MRI-only report, indicating no major change in interpretation of follow-up data. Conclusion In this pilot study, C-11-methionine uptake remained remarkably high in meningiomas with long-term follow-up after SRT. Adding MET-PET to the regular MRI follow-up had no impact on the interpretation of follow-up imaging

    Isolation of a wide range of minerals from a thermally treated plant: Equisetum arvense, a Mare’s tale

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    Silica is the second most abundant biomineral being exceeded in nature only by biogenic CaCO3. Many land plants (such as rice, cereals, cucumber, etc.) deposit silica in significant amounts to reinforce their tissues and as a systematic response to pathogen attack. One of the most ancient species of living vascular plants, Equisetum arvense is also able to take up and accumulate silica in all parts of the plant. Numerous methods have been developed for elimination of the organic material and/or metal ions present in plant material to isolate biogenic silica. However, depending on the chemical and/or physical treatment applied to branch or stem from Equisetum arvense; other mineral forms such glass-type materials (i.e. CaSiO3), salts (i.e. KCl) or luminescent materials can also be isolated from the plant material. In the current contribution, we show the chemical and/or thermal routes that lead to the formation of a number of different mineral types in addition to biogenic silica
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