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  • Lundberg posted an update 10 months, 2 weeks ago

    During acute relapses of multiple sclerosis (MS), physical symptoms attract utmost care. However, cognitive impairment may constitute an substantial part of a new relapse. In this study, we evaluated the cognitive status of MS patients during acute relapses.

    We enrolled 35 definite MS patients and 21 healthy subjects. Neuropsychometric tests and the event-related potential, P300 were administered to the MS patients before corticosteroid treatment, and 3 months later. The control subjects were tested only once.

    The differences between the scores of the Timed 25-Foot Walk test, the Brief Repeatable Battery subtests (10/36 SPART, SDMT, SRT, SRT-LTM) in the relapse and remission phases were statistically significant (

     = .005,

     = .007,

     = .05,

     = .029,

     = .001, respectively). The latencies of P300 waves during the relapses were significantly prolonged than the ones in the remission and the controls’ (

     = .004,

     < .001, respectively).

    In this study, we observed a significant involvement of visual-spatial perception, remote memory, and recall, as well as P300 latencies in acute relapses. The inclusion of cognitive assessment during a relapse can provide accurate information on cognitive status for future treatment modalities.

    In this study, we observed a significant involvement of visual-spatial perception, remote memory, and recall, as well as P300 latencies in acute relapses. The inclusion of cognitive assessment during a relapse can provide accurate information on cognitive status for future treatment modalities.

    Cancer-associated-cachexia represents a systemic syndrome of unintended weight-loss (WL) and systemic inflammation, affecting >80% patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PA). We aimed to evaluate the association of weight change (WC) with survival of patients treated with chemotherapy (ChT) for PA and the influence of disease staging. We also studied the prognostic and predictive value of inflammation-based scores.

    Observational, retrospective cohort study. Individuals were divided into two cohorts, according to WC (WL ≥5% vs. non-WL <5%) after ChT. Main endpoints were weight change and survival time. Statistical analysis was performed using Stata software.

    Sixty-five patients were included (median age 69; 48% female), 60% with advanced disease. At 3 months after ChT start, 54% experienced WL. Advanced disease independently predicted WL (OR 2.10; 95% CI, 1.11-19.6;

     = 0.041). With median follow-up of 14.8 mo, median survival time of patients with WL was 18.5 mo, vs. 33.2 vs. for non-WL (HR 2.2disease, interventions targeting this modifiable factor may translate into better outcomes for PA patients. NLR may be a surrogate marker of systemic inflammatory status in this setting.Dendrocandins are characteristic chemical structures of D. officinale and have strong physiological bioactivities. In this study, a dendrocandin analogue (1) has been prepared by total synthesis (9 steps, 12.6% overall yield) in which coupling reaction and Wittig reaction as the key steps. Compound 1 was also evaluated for its anticancer activity in vitro against six human cancer cells (MCF-7, A549, A431, SW480, HepG-2 and HL-60) using MTT assays. Compound 1 showed potent cytotoxicity, with the IC50 value 16.27 ± 0.26 µM. The expression levels of apoptotic proteins indicated that compound 1 can up-regulate the expression of apoptotic proteins, leading to apoptosis. This compound suggested that it’s potential as anticancer agent for further development.The dependence of statistical validation parameters was investigated on the size of the sample taken in fit of multivariate linear curves. We observed that R2 and related internal parameters were misleading as they overestimated the goodness-of-fit of models at small sample size. Cross-validation metrics showed correct trends. It was possible to scale the leave-one-out and the leave-many-out results close to identical by correcting the degrees of freedom of the models. y and x-randomized validation parameters were calculated and the methods provided close to identical results. We suggest to use the simplest methods in both cases. The external parameters followed correct trends with respect to the sample size, but their sensitivity differed. We plotted the Roy-Ojha metrics in 2D and we coloured them with respect to other external parameters to provide an easy classification of models. The rank correlations were calculated between the performance parameters. Up to a sample size, goodness-of-fit and robustness were distinguishable, but above a certain sample size, the parameters were redundant. The external-internal pairs were weakly correlated. Our data show that all the three aspects of validation are necessary at small sample sizes, but the internal check of robustness is not informative above a given sample size.Nearly 80 million people have been forcibly displaced by persecution, violence, and disaster. Displaced populations, including refugees, face health challenges such as resource shortages, food and housing insecurity, violence, and disrupted social support. People living with HIV in refugee settings have decreased engagement with HIV services compared to non-refugee populations, and interventions are needed to enhance linkage to care. However, designing health interventions in humanitarian settings is challenging. We used Intervention Mapping (IM), a six-step method for developing theory- and evidence-based health interventions, to design a program to increase linkage to HIV care for refugees and Ugandan nationals in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda. Leptomycin B purchase We engaged a diverse group of stakeholders (N = 14) in Nakivale, including community members and humanitarian actors, in an interactive workshop focusing on IM steps 1-4. We developed a chronic care program that would integrate HIV care with services for hypertension and diabetes at accessible community sites, thereby decreasing stigma around HIV treatment and improving access to care. IM provided an inclusive, efficient method for integrating community members and program implementers in the intervention planning process, and can be used as a method-driven approach to intervention design in humanitarian settings.

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