Life Satisfaction and Sense of Coherence of Breast Cancer Survivors Compared to Women with Mental Depression, Arterial Hypertension and Healthy Controls

The purpose of the study was to compare the life satisfaction (LS) and sense of coherence (SOC) of women recovering from breast cancer (BC) to LS and SOC of women with depression or hypertension and of healthy controls. Finnish Health and Social Support (HeSSup) follow-up survey data in 2003 was linked with national health registries. BC patients were followed up for mortality until the end of 2012. The statistical computations were carried out with SAS (R). There were no significant differences in LS and SOC between the groups with BC, arterial hypertension or healthy controls. Women recovering from BC are as satisfied with their life as healthy controls, and their perceived LS is better and SOC is stronger compared to women with depression. SOC correlated positively (r(2) = 0.36, p <0.001) with LS. However, more studies on determinants of the LS are needed for designing and organizing health care services for BC survivors.Peer reviewe

Higher Infection of Dengue Virus Serotype 2 in Human Monocytes of Patients with G6PD Deficiency

The prevalence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is high in Asia. An ex vivo study was conducted to elucidate the association of G6PD deficiency and dengue virus (DENV) infection when many Asian countries are hyper-endemic. Human monocytes from peripheral mononuclear cells collected from 12 G6PD-deficient patients and 24 age-matched controls were infected with one of two DENV serotype 2 (DENV-2) strains–the New Guinea C strain (from a case of dengue fever) or the 16681 strain (from a case of dengue hemorrhagic fever) with a multiplicity of infection of 0.1. The infectivity of DENV-2 in human monocytes was analyzed by flow cytometry. Experimental results indicated that the monocytes of G6PD-deficient patients exhibited a greater levels of infection with DENV-2 New Guinea C strain than did those in healthy controls [mean±SD:33.6%±3.5 (27.2%∼39.2%) vs 20.3%±6.2 (8.0%∼30.4%), P<0.01]. Similar observations were made of infection with the DENV-2 16681 strain [40.9%±3.9 (35.1%∼48.9%) vs 27.4%±7.1 (12.3%∼37.1%), P<0.01]. To our knowledge, this study demonstrates for the first time higher infection of human monocytes in G6PD patients with the dengue virus, which may be important in increasing epidemiological transmission and perhaps with the potential to develop more severe cases pathogenically

Recurrent Activity in Higher Order, Modality Non-Specific Brain Regions: A Granger Causality Analysis of Autobiographic Memory Retrieval

It has been proposed that the workings of the brain are mainly intrinsically generated recurrent neuronal activity, with sensory inputs as modifiers of such activity in both sensory and higher order modality non-specific regions. This is supported by the demonstration of recurrent neuronal activity in the visual system as a response to visual stimulation. In contrast recurrent activity has never been demonstrated before in higher order modality non-specific regions. Using magneto-encephalography and Granger causality analysis, we tested in a paralimbic network the hypothesis that stimulation may enhance causal recurrent interaction between higher-order, modality non-specific regions. The network includes anterior cingulate/medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate/medial parietal cortices together with pulvinar thalami, a network known to be effective in autobiographic memory retrieval and self-awareness. Autobiographic memory retrieval of previous personal judgments of visually presented words was used as stimuli. It is demonstrated that the prestimulus condition is characterized by causal, recurrent oscillations which are maximal in the lower gamma range. When retrieving previous judgments of visually presented adjectives, this activity is dramatically increased during the stimulus task as ascertained by Granger causality analysis. Our results confirm the hypothesis that stimulation may enhance causal interaction between higher order, modality non-specific brain regions, exemplified in a network of autobiographical memory retrieval

Novel strategies in tendon and ligament tissue engineering: Advanced biomaterials and regeneration motifs

Tendon and ligaments have poor healing capacity and when injured often require surgical intervention. Tissue replacement via autografts and allografts are non-ideal strategies that can lead to future problems. As an alternative, scaffold-based tissue engineering strategies are being pursued. In this review, we describe design considerations and major recent advancements of scaffolds for tendon/ligament engineering. Specifically, we outline native tendon/ligament characteristics critical for design parameters and outcome measures, and introduce synthetic and naturally-derived biomaterials used in tendon/ligament scaffolds. We will describe applications of these biomaterials in advanced tendon/ligament engineering strategies including the utility of scaffold functionalization, cyclic strain, growth factors, and interface considerations. The goal of this review is to compile and interpret the important findings of recent tendon/ligament engineering research in an effort towards the advancement of regenerative strategies

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Quality of Life After Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy or Axillary Lymph Node Dissection in Stage I/II Breast Cancer Patients: A Prospective Longitudinal Study

Background:\ud Breast cancer patients’ quality of life (QoL) after surgery has been reported to improve significantly over time. Little is known about QoL recovery after sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in comparison to axillary lymph node dissection (ALND).\ud \ud Methods:\ud 175 of 195 stage I/II breast cancer patients completed the EORTC QLQ-C30: one day before surgery (T0) and after 6 (T1), 26 (T2), 52 (T3) and 104 (T4) weeks. Of these, 54 patients underwent SLNB, 56 SLNB+ALND and 65 ALND. General linear models and paired T-tests between T0–T4 and T1–T4 were computed. Complications, radiotherapy and systemic therapy were added to the model.\ud \ud Results:\ud Significant time effects were found on physical, role and emotional functioning. Physical and role functioning decreased between T0 and T1. At T4, SLNB patients’ functioning had increased to their T0 level; ALND (+/– SLNB) patients’ functioning had increased, but had not improved to T0 level. Emotional functioning increased linearly between T0 and T4. At T4, emotional functioning was significantly higher in all groups as compared with T0. No significant group or interaction (time × group) effects were found. Complications and chemotherapy had a significant negative effect on role, emotional and cognitive functioning. Complications had a significant effect on social functioning also. Effect sizes varied between 0.00 and 0.06.\ud \ud Conclusion:\ud Two years post surgery, breast cancer patients’ QoL is comparable to that shortly before surgery. Women rated their emotional functioning as even better. SLNB is not associated with a better QoL than ALND. However, undergoing systemic therapy and/or experiencing complications affects QoL negatively

Subliminally Perceived Odours Modulate Female Intrasexual Competition: An Eye Movement Study

Background: Evidence suggests that subliminal odorants influence human perception and behavior. It has been hypothesized that the human sex-steroid derived compound 4,16-androstadien-3-one (androstadienone) functions as a human chemosignal. The most intensively studied steroid compound, androstadienone is known to be biologically relevant since it seems to convey information about male mate quality to women. It is unclear if the effects of androstadienone are menstrual cycle related. Methodology/Principal Findings: In the first experiment, heterosexual women were exposed to androstadienone or a control compound and asked to view stimuli such as female faces, male faces and familiar objects while their eye movements were recorded. In the second experiment the same women were asked to rate the level of stimuli attractiveness following exposure to the study or control compound. The results indicated that women at high conception risk spent more time viewing the female than the male faces regardless of the compound administered. Women at a low conception risk exhibited a preference for female faces only following exposure to androstadienone. Conclusions/Significance: We contend that a woman’s level of fertility influences her evaluation of potential competitors (e.g., faces of other women) during times critical for reproduction. Subliminally perceived odorants, such as androstadienone, might similarly enhance intrasexual competition strategies in women during fertility phases not critica

Seizure prediction : ready for a new era

Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge colleagues in the international seizure prediction group for valuable discussions. L.K. acknowledges funding support from the National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1130468) and the James S. McDonnell Foundation (220020419) and acknowledges the contribution of Dean R. Freestone at the University of Melbourne, Australia, to the creation of Fig. 3.Peer reviewedPostprin