Duo : Bassoon studio recital

Philipp Friedrich BoddeckerMichel Joseph GebauerGiovanni Antonio BertoliPaul HindemithIgor StravinskyTadd RussoWesley PittmanAlan HovhanessHeitor Villa-LobosFranz TauschEric Ewaze

Health-related quality of life in adrenocortical carcinoma:Development of the disease-specific questionnaire ACC-QOL and results from the PROFILES registry

We aimed to develop a disease-specific adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaire (ACC-QOL) and assess HRQoL in a population-based cohort of patients with ACC. Development was in line with European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) guidelines, though not an EORTC product. In phase I and II, we identified 90 potential HRQoL issues using literature and focus groups, which were reduced to 39 by healthcare professionals. Pilot testing resulted in 28 questions, to be used alongside the EORTC QLQ-C30. In Phase III, 100 patients with ACC were asked to complete the questionnaires twice in the PROFILES registry (3-month interval, respondents: first 67, second 51). Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated the structural validity of 26 questions with their scale structure (mitotane side-effects, hypercortisolism/hydrocortisone effects, emotional effects). Internal consistency and reliability were good (Cronbach's alpha 0.897, Interclass correlation coefficient 0.860). Responsiveness analysis showed good discriminative ability (AUC 0.788). Patients diagnosed more than 5 years ago reported a good HRQoL compared with the Dutch reference population, but experienced residual fatigue and emotional problems. Patients who underwent recent treatment reported a lower HRQoL and problems in several domains. In conclusion, we developed an ACC-specific HRQoL questionnaire with good psychometric properties

Clinical outcome and cost-effectiveness of a 1-year nutritional intervention programme in COPD patients with low muscle mass: The randomized controlled NUTRAIN trial.

Background and aims: The efficacy of nutritional intervention to enhance short- and long-term outcomes of pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD is still unclear, hence this paper aims to investigate the clinical outcome and cost-effectiveness of a 12-month nutritional intervention strategy in muscle-wasted COPD patients. Methods: Prior to a 4-month pulmonary rehabilitation programme, 81 muscle-wasted COPD patients (51% males, aged 62.5 ± 0.9 years) with moderate airflow obstruction (FEV1 55.1 ± 2.2% predicted) and impaired exercise capacity (Wmax 63.5 ± 2.4% predicted) were randomized to 3 portions of nutritional supplementation per day (enriched with leucine, vitamin D and polyunsaturated fatty acids) [NUTRITION] or PLACEBO (phase 1). In the unblinded 8-month maintenance phase (phase 2), both groups received structured feedback on their physical activity level assessed by accelerometry. NUTRITION additionally received 1 portion of supplemental nutrition per day and motivational interviewing-based nutritional counselling. A 3-month follow-up (phase 3) was included. Results:

Human extrahepatic and intrahepatic cholangiocyte organoids show region-specific differentiation potential and model cystic fibrosis-related bile duct disease

The development, homeostasis, and repair of intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts are thought to involve distinct mechanisms including proliferation and maturation of cholangiocyte and progenitor cells. This study aimed to characterize human extrahepatic cholangiocyte organoids (ECO) using canonical Wnt-stimulated culture medium previously developed for intrahepatic cholangiocyte organoids (ICO). Paired ECO and ICO were derived from common bile duct and liver tissue, respectively. Characterization showed both organoid types were highly similar, though some differences in size and gene expression were observed. Both ECO and ICO have cholangiocyte fate differentiation capacity. However, unlike ICO, ECO lack the potential for differentiation towards a hepatocyte-like fate. Importantly, ECO derived from a cystic fibrosis patient showed n

Performance of the polarized ion source POLIS used at the AGOR accelerator facility.

The operation of the KVI polarized ion source POLIS presently running on proton beams is discussed. The best polarization values which have been measured, are 70 +/-0.5 % and -56 +/-0.5 %. The asymmetry is due to 7 +/-1 % offset in polarization, which originates from state mixing in the magnetic field of the ECR ionizer.</p