05). LRT with high-volume and high-intensity effectively induce similar changes in adult Wistar rats’ radial and sciatic nerves’ ultrastructure.The confinement of atoms in impenetrable spherical boxes at the Hartree-Fock level was evaluated using a non-uniform fixed-grid variational method defined by a q-exponential. Applications from He to Ne in the ground state and some of them in excited states demonstrated that the method depends essentially on the boundary conditions to produce results as accurate as those reported in the literature with a relatively low number of integration points. An expression was defined for the virial theorem for atoms confined by spherical boxes and the confinement effect on the virial ratio evaluated. The results showed that the confinement of atoms results in much more significant changes to the kinetic than to the potential energy.Current researches have confirmed that Smads, mediators of TGF-β signaling, are strictly controlled by domain-specific site phosphorylation in the process of hepatic disease. Usually, Smad3 phospho-isoform pSmad3L and pSmad3C are reversible and antagonistic; pSmad2L/C could act together with pSmad3L by stimulating PAI-1 expression and ECM synthesis to transmit fibrogenic signals. Our recent study found that pSmad3C mutation is supposed to perform a vigorous role on the early phase of liver injury and abates salvianolic acid B’s anti-hepatic fibrotic-carcinogenesis. However, whether pSmad3C mutation expedites pSmad2L/C-mediated signaling transduction during hepatic fibrogenesis remains vague. Presently, Smad3 gene C-terminal phosphorylation site mutation heterozygote (pSmad3C+/-) mice were constructed to probe if and how pSmad3C retards CCl4-induced hepatic fibrogenesis by inhibiting pSmad2L/C-mediated signaling transduction. Twelve 6-week-old pSmad3C+/- C57BL/6J mice were intraperitoneally injection with CCl4 for 6 weeks to induce liver fibrogenesis. Results showed that pSmad3C mutation aggravates the relative liver weight, biochemical parameters, collagenous fibers and fibrotic septa formation, contributes to fibrogenesis in HT-CCl4 mice. Furthermore, fibrotic-related proteins TGF-β1, pSmad2C, pSmad2L, and PAI-1 were also increased in CCl4-induced pSmad3C+/- mice. These results suggest that pSmad3C mutation exacerbates hepatic fibrogenesis which relates to intensifying pSmad2L/C-mediated signaling transduction.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and the safety of a novel, alternative method for bone tissue management in facial nerve decompression by a middle cranial fossa approach. Several applications of Piezosurgery technology have been described, and the technique has recently been extended to otologic surgery. The piezoelectric device is a bone dissector which, using micro-vibration, preserves the anatomic integrity of soft tissue thanks to a selective action on mineralized tissue.

An anatomic dissection study was conducted on fresh-frozen adult cadaveric heads. Facial nerve decompression was performed by a middle cranial fossa approach in all specimens using the piezoelectric device under a surgical 3D exoscope visualization. After the procedures, the temporal bones were examined for evidence of any injury to the facial nerve or the cochleovestibular organs.

In all cases, it was possible to perform a safe dissection of the greater petrosal superficial nerve, the geniculate ganglion, and the labyrinthine tract of the facial nerve. No cases of semicircular canal, cochlea, or nerve damage were observed. All of the dissections were carried out with the ultrasonic device without the necessity to replace it with an otological drill.

From this preliminary study, surgical decompression of the facial nerve via the middle cranial fossa approach using Piezosurgery seems to be a safe and feasible procedure. Further cadaveric training is recommended before intraoperative use, and a wider case series is required to make a comparison with conventional devices.

From this preliminary study, surgical decompression of the facial nerve via the middle cranial fossa approach using Piezosurgery seems to be a safe and feasible procedure. Further cadaveric training is recommended before intraoperative use, and a wider case series is required to make a comparison with conventional devices.Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a most common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide. Because of its complex pathogenesis, the prevention and therapies of AD still are a severe challenge. Evidence suggested that crocin, the major component of saffron, exhibited neuroprotective effects in AD. As such, in this study, N2a/APP695swe cells were enrolled to investigate the effects of crocin on endogenous Aβ-induced neurotoxicity. Crocin (100 and 200 μM) could ameliorate cytotoxicity according to CCK-8 assay and reduce apoptosis in line with Hoechst 33,342 staining and Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining in N2a/APP695swe cells. Reduced ROS generation and elevated MMP were found in N2a/APP695swe cells treated with crocin (100 and 200 μM). Additionally, crocin at concentrations of 100 and 200 μM inhibited the release of cytochrome and attenuated caspases-3 activity in N2a/APP695swe cells. Furthermore, succinylation, crotonylation, 2-hydroxyisobutyrylation, malonylation, and phosphorylation were significantly reduced, while a slight increase of acetylation was found in 100-μM crocin treated N2a/APP695swe cells. Taken together, crocin may be a promising natural product candidate for the effective cure of AD.

Reward-associated cues can promote maladaptive behavior, including risky decision-making in a gambling setting. A propensity for sign tracking over goal tracking-i.e., interaction with a reward-predictive cue rather than the site of reward-demonstrates an individual’s tendency to transfer motivational value to a cue. However, the relationship of sign tracking to risky decision-making remains unclear.

To determine whether sign tracking predicts risky choice, we used a Pavlovian conditioned approach task to evaluate the tendency of male rats to sign track to a lever cue and then trained rats on a rodent gambling task (rGT) with win-associated cues. We also tested the effects of D-amphetamine, quinpirole (a D

/D

receptor agonist), and PD128907 (a D

receptor agonist) on gambling behavior in sign tracker and goal tracker individuals.

Increased sign tracking relative to goal tracking was associated with suboptimal performance on the rGT, including decreased selection of the optimal choice, increased seleents.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common cause of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Although coronary angiography (CAG) should be performed also in the absence of ST-elevation (STE) after sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), this recommendation is not well implemented in daily routine.

Aretrospective database analysis was conducted in atertiary care center between January 2005 and December 2014. We included all SCA patients aged ≥ 18years with presumed cardiac cause and sustained ROSC in the absence of STE at hospital admission. The rate and timing of CAG were defined as the primary endpoints. As secondary endpoints, the reasons pro and contra CAG were analyzed. Furthermore, we observed if the signs and symptoms used for decision making occurred more often in patients with treatable CAD.

We included 645 (53.6%) of the 1203 screened patients, CAG was performed in 343 (53.2%) patients with adiagnosis of occlusive CAD in 214 (62.4%) patients. Of these, 151 (71.0%) patients had occlusive CAD treated with coronary intervention, thrombus aspiration, or coronary artery bypass grafting. In an adjusted binomial logistic regression analysis, age ≥ 70years, female sex, non-shockable rhythms, and cardiomyopathy were associated with withholding of CAG. In patients diagnosed and treated with occlusive CAD, initially shockable rhythms, previously diagnosed CAD, hypertension, and smoking were found more often.

Although selection bias is unavoidable due to the retrospective design of this study, ahigh proportion of the examined patients had occlusive CAD. The criteria used for patient selection may be suboptimal.

Although selection bias is unavoidable due to the retrospective design of this study, a high proportion of the examined patients had occlusive CAD. The criteria used for patient selection may be suboptimal.

Transurethral endoscopic procedures using bipolar current, or laser energy are nowadays widely accepted and have replaced the traditional monopolar resection. A major advantage of these techniques is the utilization of isotonic saline as irrigation solution, which minimizes side effects such as symptoms associated to classical transurethral resection syndrome (TUR-syndrome). Nonetheless, clinically significant IFA also occurs with saline and is determined by pressure gradients, systemic resistance and by the amount of irrigation fluid. We aimed to investigate the extend of IFA and symptoms due to volume overload during bipolar transurethral resection (bTUR) and laser procedures of the prostate.

We performed a systematic literature search using PubMed, restricted to original English-written articles, including animal, artificial model, and human studies. Search terms were TUR, transurethral, laser, HoLEP, ThuLEP, greenlight, enucleation, fluid absorption, fluid uptake, and TUR-syndrome.

Mean and maximum icarbonate could be markers for detecting dangerous events of IFA with saline.

Potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) is a source of preventable adverse drug events. The objective of this study was a comparative analysis (quantitative and qualitative) between two tools used to detect PIP, PIM-Check and STOPP/START.

First, a qualitative analysis (QAC) was conducted to evaluate the concordance between the criteria, which constitute PIM-Check and the gold standard STOPP/START. Second, a retrospective comparative and observational study was performed on the list of treatment at the admission of 50 older patients hospitalized in an acute geriatric ward of a university hospital in Switzerland in 2016 using both tools.

The QAC has shown that 50% (57 criteria) of STOPP/START criteria are fully or partially concordant with those of PIM-Check. The retrospective study was performed on 50 patients aged 87years, suffering from 5 co-morbidities (min-max 1-11) and treated by of 8 drugs (min-max 2-16), as medians. The prevalence of the detected PIP was 80% by PIM-Check and 90% by STOPP/START. Medication review shows that 4.2 PIP per patient were detected by PIM-Check and 3.5 PIP by STOPP/START among which 1.9 PIP was commonly detected by both tools, as means. PIM-Check detected more PIP related to cardiology, angiology, nephrology, and endocrinology in older patients but missed the PIP related to geriatric syndromes (e.g., fall, dementia, Alzheimer) detected by STOPP/START.

By using PIM-Check in geriatric settings, some PIP will not be detected. It is considered as a limitation for this tool in this frail population but brings a certain complementarity in other areas of therapy not covered by STOPP/START.

By using PIM-Check in geriatric settings, some PIP will not be detected. It is considered as a limitation for this tool in this frail population but brings a certain complementarity in other areas of therapy not covered by STOPP/START.