Активность

RESULTS PROMIS-10 physical and mental health scores correlated positively with the ALSFRS-R score (physical R = 0.85, p  less then  0.001; mental R = 0.58, p = 0.02). NeuroQoL-fatigue scores were inversely correlated with the ALSFRS-R scores-higher fatigue correlated with lower function (R = - 0.72, p = 0.004). CONCLUSION Collection of PROMs is feasible in the context of routine ALS care. PROM scores are highly correlated with validated ALS outcome measures.A drop in atmospheric pressure, as observed at high altitudes, leads to decreased oxygen saturation. The effect of regular changes in barometric pressure at sea level has never been studied in a general population. A cohort of adults aged 40 years were examined with pulse oximetry at two separate visits, and the local barometric pressure was available from the local weather station. The study aimed at determining the effect of atmospheric pressure on oxygen saturation also called SpO2, as well as on shortness of breath. Based on spirometry, the participants were divided into two groups, with normal and decreased lung function. Decreased lung function was defined as forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) below lower limit or normal (LLN) or FEV1/FVC (FVC, forced vital capacity) below LLN, with GLI 2012 reference values. The statistical analysis included uni/multivariable linear and logistic regression. A total of 7439 participants of the Tromsø 7 cohort study were included. There was a significant association between barometric pressure and SpO2  less then  96%, and we found that a reduction of 166.67 hPa was needed to get a 1% reduction in SpO2. The change in atmospheric pressure was not significantly associated with shortness of breath, also not in subjects with reduced lung function.The worldwide occurring common liver fluke Fasciola hepatica can infect humans and animals and leads to considerable illness and economic loss annually. The aim of this study was to determine the genetic diversity of F. hepatica in Austria. In total, 31 adult flukes isolated from cattle from various regions in Austria were investigated for their cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) and nicotinamide dehydrogenase subunit 1 (nad1) gene sequences. It was shown that Austrian isolates of F. hepatica reveal extensive genetic diversity. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first data on the diversity of F. hepatica in Austria.The relationships between microhabitat preference, body size, and egg allocation were examined in the copepod Naobranchia lizae, which establishes on the gills of striped mullet Mugil cephalus. A total of 297 individual N. lizae (mean intensity = 5.0 ± 4.8 SD) were recovered from 60 infected hosts collected from the Charleston Harbor Estuarine System, South Carolina USA. For each mullet, we identified 16 microhabitats per gill arch, which yielded 128 microhabitats per host that could potentially be occupied. On average, only 5% of these microhabitats were occupied per host. The distribution pattern of the copepods on the gills revealed that microhabitat preferences occurred both among and within gill arches. For the microhabitats occupied, there was no effect of preference on body size, egg number, or egg size. Similarly, microhabitat sharing, which was more likely to occur at higher infection intensities, was not costly in terms of the copepod body size and egg allocation and there was no detectable trade-off between egg number and egg size. However, results also revealed that about half (48%) of the available microhabitats were never occupied by the copepods. We suggest that the occupancy of these potentially poor quality sites could carry fitness costs not realized in nature since numerous high quality sites are available per host. The findings are consistent with the interpretation that female N. lizae occupy a resource-rich habitat on the gill arches of striped mullet that provides conditions for optimal growth and reproduction.OBJECTIVES Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) is a prognostically relevant metastatic disease which may be difficult to depict in postoperative patients, particularly in early stages. This study aimed to determine whether PC could be diagnosed more accurately when using a combination of spectral detector CT (SDCT)-derived conventional images (CI) and iodine overlay images (IO) compared with CI only. METHODS Thirty patients with PC and 30 patients with benign peritoneal alterations (BPA) who underwent portal-venous abdominal SDCT were included. Four radiologists determined the presence/absence of PC for each patient and assessed lesion conspicuity, diagnostic certainty, and image quality using 5-point Likert scales. Subjective assessment was conducted in two sessions comprising solely CI and CI/IO between which a latency of 6 weeks was set. Iodine uptake and HU attenuation were determined ROI-based to analyze quantitative differentiation of PC/BPA. RESULTS Specificity for PC was significantly higher when using CI/able sensitivity. • Particularly in postsurgical patients, iodine overlays could help to avoid false-positive diagnosis of peritoneal disease. • Iodine overlays alone provided inferior image quality and assessability than conventional images, while the combination of both received the highest ratings. selleck chemical Iodine overlays should therefore be used in addition to and not as a substitute for conventional images.OBJECTIVES To evaluate the predictive performance of the modified hepatoma arterial embolisation prognostic II (mHAP-II) score in a real-life western hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cohort treated with drug-eluting bead-TACE and compare the mHAP-II with other scores in this cohort. METHODS One hundred seventy-nine HCC patients (mean age 77 (± 9) years, 87% male) with one or more drug-eluting bead (DEB)-TACE sessions using 100-300 μm microspheres were retrospectively analysed. Performance analysis of the mHAP-II score was based on Mann-Whitney U tests, the Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank tests, receiver operating characteristics, Akaike’s information criterion and Cox regression models. RESULTS In this population, HCC risk factors were mainly alcohol abuse (31%) and hepatitis C (28%). The median survival of the entire cohort was 29.4 months. mHAP-II classification of the cohort was mHAP-II B (30%), C (41%) and D (23%) respectively. Survival of all subgroups differed significantly from each other (each p  0.9 mg/dl (HR 1.