The effect of biologic agents currently used for rheumatoid arthritis on the central nervous system of healthy rats

The aim of this study was to investigate the development of behavioral and memory disorders on healthy adult rats, after chronic, systematic administration of methotrexate and the biologic agents, Tocilizumab (anti-IL6) and Infliximab (anti-TNFa), that are used for Rheumatoid Arthritis. 35 adult male Wistar rats, 12 weeks old, were used in this study. The rats were divided into 5 groups (n=7): a control group (CTRL), which was submitted to tests without receiving any drug, a placebo group (PLC) which received normal saline (i.p.), a methotrexate group (MTX) receiving 0.25mg/kg of the drug (i.p.), an infliximab group (INFL) receiving 6mg/kg of the drug (i.p.), and a tocilizumab group (TCZ) receiving 8mg/kg of the drug (i.p.). The drug infusion was performed weekly. After 30 days of drug administration, behavioral tests were performed to assess the rats’ stress levels and memory. The performed behavioral tests were (1) the Elevated-plus maze test, (2) the Elevated-zero maze test and (3) the Olfactory social memory test. The results were analyzed using Oneway-ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests through SPSS 25.0. The MTX group spent significantly less time in the open arms of the mazes, compared to the CTRL group (P<0.001) and the PLC group (p=0.05), and needed less time during the second encounter compared to the first, when assessed in the olfactory social memory test (p=0.002). The TCZ and INFL groups spent more time in the open areas of both mazes compared to PLC and MTX groups (p=0.033). Based on the results of this study, the administration of biologic agents improves stress levels and shows a potentially anxiolytic effect, without significantly affecting memory

Single Center Retrospective Analysis of Conventional and Radial TIG Catheters for Transradial Diagnostic Coronary Angiography

Current guidelines favor the radial approach for coronary angiography. Therefore, specialty radial diagnostic catheters were designed to engage both coronary arteries with a single device. However, it is unclear if single catheters are superior to conventional catheters. A retrospective analysis was performed of consecutive right radial coronary angiographies to determine catheter use, fluoroscopy time, radiation dosage, and consumption of contrast. Procedures were performed with a single TIG catheter or conventional catheters (CONV). Procedures with coronary artery bypass grafts or ventricular angiographies were excluded. 273 transradial procedures were performed successfully. 95 procedures were performed with CONV and 178 procedures with a TIG. Crossover to additional catheters was higher in TIG (15.2%) compared to CONV (5.3%, p=0.02). Fluoroscopy time was comparable between CONV and TIG, without crossover (2.2±1.2 min versus 2.3±1.2 min; n.s.), however, greater in the case of crossover for CONV (5.8±0.7) and TIG (7.6±3.0; p=0.0001). Radiation dosage was similar in CONV and the TIG, without crossover (1419±1075, cGy∗cm2 versus 1690±1138; n.s.), however, greater for CONV (2374±620) and TIG (3733±2281, p=0.05) with crossover. Overall, the amount of contrast was greater in TIG (56±13 mL) versus CONV (48±3 mL; p=0.0003). CONV femoral catheters may be the primary choice for radial approach

Uterine Embolization as a New Treatment Option in Adenomyosis Uteri

Adenomyosis is characterized by the development of endometrial ectopic glands and tissue in the myometrium layer in depth greater than 2.5 mm from the endometrial surface of the separative area by -myomas well as by hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the smooth muscles of the myometrium. This is filtration, not mere displacement, of the myometrium, from the endometrium. Clinical symptoms include dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia. It is diffuse (adenomyosis) or focal (adenomyoma), asymmetrically affects the uterine wall of premenopausal women (usually the posterior) and often coexists with myomas. The pathogenesis of adenomyosis remains unknown. The treatment options are: drug therapy, invasive treatment of fibroids: myomectomy (open—intra-abdominal, laparoscopic, hysteroscopic), hysterectomy, myolysis—cryocatalysis, microwave or radiofrequency thermal catalysis (RF-ablation), ultrasound focus catalysis (FUS), laser photocatalysis and percutaneous selective uterine artery embolization (UAE). Embolization remains an alternative and not a substitute of hysterectomy. The medical indication is made on a case-by-case basis, depending on age, desire for pregnancy and the clinical symptoms of adenomyosis

Federated learning enables big data for rare cancer boundary detection.

Although machine learning (ML) has shown promise across disciplines, out-of-sample generalizability is concerning. This is currently addressed by sharing multi-site data, but such centralization is challenging/infeasible to scale due to various limitations. Federated ML (FL) provides an alternative paradigm for accurate and generalizable ML, by only sharing numerical model updates. Here we present the largest FL study to-date, involving data from 71 sites across 6 continents, to generate an automatic tumor boundary detector for the rare disease of glioblastoma, reporting the largest such dataset in the literature (n = 6, 314). We demonstrate a 33% delineation improvement for the surgically targetable tumor, and 23% for the complete tumor extent, over a publicly trained model. We anticipate our study to: 1) enable more healthcare studies informed by large diverse data, ensuring meaningful results for rare diseases and underrepresented populations, 2) facilitate further analyses for glioblastoma by releasing our consensus model, and 3) demonstrate the FL effectiveness at such scale and task-complexity as a paradigm shift for multi-site collaborations, alleviating the need for data-sharing

Author Correction: Federated learning enables big data for rare cancer boundary detection.

10.1038/s41467-023-36188-7NATURE COMMUNICATIONS14

Federated Learning Enables Big Data for Rare Cancer Boundary Detection

Although machine learning (ML) has shown promise across disciplines, out-of-sample generalizability is concerning. This is currently addressed by sharing multi-site data, but such centralization is challenging/infeasible to scale due to various limitations. Federated ML (FL) provides an alternative paradigm for accurate and generalizable ML, by only sharing numerical model updates. Here we present the largest FL study to-date, involving data from 71 sites across 6 continents, to generate an automatic tumor boundary detector for the rare disease of glioblastoma, reporting the largest such dataset in the literature (n = 6, 314). We demonstrate a 33% delineation improvement for the surgically targetable tumor, and 23% for the complete tumor extent, over a publicly trained model. We anticipate our study to: 1) enable more healthcare studies informed by large diverse data, ensuring meaningful results for rare diseases and underrepresented populations, 2) facilitate further analyses for glioblastoma by releasing our consensus model, and 3) demonstrate the FL effectiveness at such scale and task-complexity as a paradigm shift for multi-site collaborations, alleviating the need for data-sharing

A comparative study of the results of Roux en Y gastric bypass (RYGBP) in patients undergoing open or laparoscopic approach.

Background: Roux en Y gastric bypass (RYGBP) is the most popular operation between patients, undergoing bariatric operation. In modern times, over half of the gastric bypass operations are performed by the laparoscopic way. The aim of the present study is the comparison between open and laparoscopic technique, in a follow-up period of 5 years post surgically.`Methods: The first 60 patients, who underwent open gastric bypass and the respective 60 patients, who underwent the laparoscopic approach, were studied for 5 years post surgically. The parameters recorded, included the excess weight loss and the following maintenance of the loss, the improvement or healing of the obesity related comorbidities, early and late complications, the duration of the operation and the duration of the patients’ hospitalization.Results: All patients exhibited excess weight loss, without statistically significant differences between the two groups, which maintained throughout the follow-up period. A small proportion of regaining the lost weight was observed after the 3rd year post surgically. Healing or improvement of the obesity related comorbidities didn’t appear statistically significant difference between the two groups. There were no differences between the two groups regarding the post surgically complications. The duration of the laparoscopic approach was longer, which can be attributed to the learning curve. The duration of the patients’ hospitalization didn’t differ between the two groups.Conclusion: Laparoscopic gastric bypass, compared to the open procedure, is an equally safe and effective technique for the confrontation of clinically severe obesityΗ γαστρική παράκαμψη κατά Roux en Y αποτελεί την πλέον δημοφιλή επέμβαση αντιμετώπισης της νοσογόνου παχυσαρκίας. Στη σύγχρονη εποχή, πάνω από τις μισές επεμβάσεις γαστρικής παράκαμψης διενεργούνται λαπαροσκοπικά. Σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης είναι η σύγκριση μεταξύ της ανοικτής και της λαπαροσκοπικής τεχνικής, σε χρονικό ορίζοντα παρακολούθησης 5 ετών από την επέμβαση.Μέθοδος: Οι πρώτοι 60 ασθενείς, που υποβλήθηκαν σε ανοικτή γαστρική παράκαμψη και οι αντίστοιχοι 60 ασθενείς, που υποβλήθηκαν σε λαπαροσκοπική επέμβαση, μελετήθηκαν για 5 χρόνια μετεγχειρητικά. Οι παράμετροι, που καταγράφηκαν περιελάμβαναν την απώλεια βάρους και τη διατήρηση αυτής, τη βελτίωση ή πλήρη ίαση των συνοδών της παχυσαρκίας νόσων, τις πρώιμες και όψιμες μετεγχειρητικές επιπλοκές, τη διάρκεια επέμβασης και το χρόνο νοσηλείας των ασθενών.Αποτελέσματα: Όλοι οι ασθενείς παρουσίασαν απώλεια βάρους, χωρίς να παρατηρούνται στατιστικά σημαντικές διαφορές μεταξύ των δύο ομάδων, που διατηρήθηκε σε όλη τη διάρκεια του follow-up. Μικρή επανάκτηση του απολεσθέντος βάρους παρατηρήθηκε μετά τον 3ο χρόνο μετεγχειρητικά. Η ίαση ή βελτίωση των συνοδών νοσημάτων δεν παρουσίασε στατιστικά σημαντική διαφορά μεταξύ των δύο ομάδων. Ισοδύναμες παρουσιάζονται και οι δύο τεχνικές, όσον αφορά στην εμφάνιση μετεγχειρητικών επιπλοκών. Η διάρκεια της λαπαροσκοπικής επέμβασης παρουσιάζεται μεγαλύτερη, γεγονός που μπορεί να ερμηνευθεί βάσει της καμπύλης εκμάθησης. Η διάρκεια νοσηλείας δεν παρουσιάζει διαφορά μεταξύ των δύο ομάδων.Συμπεράσματα: Η λαπαροσκοπική γαστρική παράκαμψη, συγκρινόμενη με την ανοικτή επέμβαση, αποτελεί μία εξίσου ασφαλή και αποτελεσματική τεχνική για την αντιμετώπιση της κλινικά σοβαρής παχυσαρκίας