non invasive

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is easily obtained for clinical diagnosis and prognosis for pulmonary diseases and has gained much interest in biomarker discovery research and studies. Lactate, a physiological material, is found in EBC and has been demonstrated to be a potential indicator of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung diseases. Several assays are available to detect lactate in human body fluids, and yet none is suitable for detecting lactate in EBC. Due to the very low concentration of lactate in EBC and low volume of EBC, it is very important to develop an assay to measure lactate with high sensitivity, accuracy and easy sample processing...

Ballast water discharges are potential sources for the spread of invasive and pathogenic aquatic organisms. Ballast waters from six ships docked in the Port of Singapore were tested to determine if indictor organisms fell within proposed standards for ballast water discharge according to regulation D-2 of the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC) guidelines. Vibrio species were cultured on media supplemented with beta-lactam antibiotics to determine the presence of antibiotic resistant Vibrio species in the ballast waters of these vessels...

Noninvasive biological readouts of tumor metastatic risk and therapeutic efficacy are needed as healthcare costs rise. Conventional imaging modalities are expensive; require significant periods of time to see appreciable change and repetitive use increases risk of hazardous side effects. Utilizing circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as a minimally invasive biological readout of tumor progression or therapeutic response is increasingly being studied. While focus has primarily been on the predictive value of naturally occurring CTCs, a more recent effort has emerged regarding the potential consequence of therapy induced CTCs...

A causal role of hypercholesterolemia in non-ischemic heart failure has never been demonstrated. Adeno-associated viral serotype 8 (AAV8)-low-density lipoprotein receptor (AAV8-LDLr) gene transfer was performed in LDLr-deficient mice without and with pressure overload induced by transverse aortic constriction (TAC). AAV8-LDLr gene therapy resulted in an 82.8% (p < 0.0001) reduction of plasma cholesterol compared with controls. Mortality rate was lower (p < 0.05) in AAV8-LDLr TAC mice compared with control TAC mice (hazard ratio for mortality 0...

The prevalence and type of life-threatening complications related to the minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum (MIRPE) and bar removal are unknown and underreported. The purpose of this communication is to make surgeons aware of the risk of these life threatening complications as well as the modifications which have been developed to prevent them. METHODS: Data related to life-threatening complications of Pectus Excavatum (PE) patients was obtained from four sources: 1. A survey of Chest Wall International Group (CWIG) surgeons who specialize in repairing congenital chest wall malformations, 2...

Major depression represents among the most frequent psychiatric disorders in the general population with an estimated lifetime prevalence of 16-17%. It is characterized by high levels of comorbidities with other psychiatric conditions or somatic diseases as well as a recurrent or chronic course in 50 to 80% of the cases leading to negative repercussions on the daily functioning, with an impaired quality of life, and to severe direct/indirect costs. Large cohort studies have supported that failure of a first-line antidepressant treatment is observed in more than 60% of patients...

Heat shock protein (HSP) 70 is an abundant cytosolic chaperone protein that is deficient in insulin-sensitive tissues in diabetes and unhealthy aging, and is considered a longevity target. It is also protective in neurological disease models. Using HSP70 purified from alfalfa and administered as an intranasal solution, we tested in whether the administration of Hsp70 to diet-induced diabetic mice would improve insulin sensitivity. Both the 10 and 40 μg given three times per week for 26 days significantly improved the response to insulin...

The non-invasive Nexfin cardiac output (CO) monitor shows a low level of agreement with the gold standard thermodilution method in morbidly obese patients. Here we investigate whether this disagreement is related to excessive bodyweight, and can be improved when bodyweight derivatives are used instead. We performed offline analyses of cardiac output recordings of patient data previously used and partly published in an earlier study by our group. In 30 morbidly obese patients (BMI > 35 kg/m(2)) undergoing laparoscopic gastric bypass, cardiac output was simultaneously determined with PiCCO thermodilution and Nexfin pulse-contour method...

PURPOSE: Hypertension in pregnancy has been associated with decreased future risk of breast cancer in many but not all studies. In the Marin Women's Study, pregnancy-induced hypertension was shown to interact with the T allele of a functional IGF1R gene variant, rs2016347, to result in lower breast density, as well as decreased breast cancer risk. Our objective was to explore these findings in a larger sample of women from the California Teachers Study (CTS). METHODS: The CTS cohort consists of over 130,000 female educators...

When cerebral blood flow falls below a critical limit, syncope occurs and, if prolonged, ischemia leads to neuronal death. The cerebral circulation has its own complex finely tuned autoregulatory mechanisms to ensure blood supply to the brain can meet the high metabolic demands of the underlying neuronal tissue. This involves the interplay between myogenic and metabolic mechanisms, input from noradrenergic and cholinergic neurons, and the release of vasoactive substrates, including adenosine from astrocytes and nitric oxide from the endothelium...

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a rare, fatal X-linked disorder characterized by the lack of dystrophin, a key sarcolemma muscle protein. Cardiac failure is a significant cause of death in DMD subjects. The purpose of our research was to identify potential cardiac serum biomarkers associated with DMD cardiomyopathy. This is an observational, case-controlled study using subjects from the CINRG DMD natural history study with cardiomyopathy (ejection fraction (EF) <55%; shortening fraction (SF) <28%), subjects without cardiomyopathy (EF ≥ 55%; SF ≥ 28%) compared to normal healthy volunteer subjects...

The 4th edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of endocrine tumors has been recently released. In this new edition, major changes are recommended in several areas of the classification of tumors of the anterior pituitary gland (adenophypophysis). The scope of the present manuscript is to summarize these recommended changes, emphasizing a few significant topics. These changes include the following: (1) a novel approach for classifying pituitary neuroendocrine tumors according to pituitary adenohypophyseal cell lineages; (2) changes to the histological grading of pituitary neuroendocrine tumors with the elimination of the term "atypical adenoma;" and (3) introduction of new entities like the pituitary blastoma and re-definition of old entities like the null-cell adenoma...

INTRODUCTION: Exchange nailing is most acceptable for treating hypertrophic non-union of the long bones, requiring the removal of previously fixed implant. However, its main effect of mechanical stabilization is controversial in non-isthmal area. We hypothesized that minimally invasive plate augmentation over the non-union site may have a better option, without the need of bone grafting or removing pre-existing implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen patients with hypertrophic non-union of the long bones between 2010 and 2014 on radiography who previously underwent intramedullary (IM) nailing or plate osteosynthesis for long-bone fractures were included...

Uterine myomas are a common condition and the leading cause of hysterectomy. Clinically, myomas can be challenging because they range from being asymptomatic to causing severe, debilitating symptoms and occur in many women before child-bearing is complete. Thus, women often seek uterine- conserving and non-surgical management of their myomas. In this review, the available uterine-conserving treatment options from medical management through minimally invasive procedures will be discussed. To the extent of research available, the sustainability of symptom improvement and the effects on future fertility will be reviewed...

Post-mortem magnetic resonance (PMMR) imaging is rapidly emerging as an alternative, "less invasive", and more widely accepted investigative approach for perinatal deaths in the UK. PMMR has a high diagnostic accuracy for congenital and acquired fetal neuropathological anomalies compared to conventional autopsy, and is particularly useful when autopsy is non-diagnostic. The main objectives of this review are to describe and illustrate the range of common normal and abnormal central nervous system (CNS) findings encountered during PMMR investigation...

BACKGROUND: Opioid receptors have become increasingly implicated in cancer progression and long-term patient outcomes. However, the expression and significance of the κ-opioid receptor (KOR) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. METHODS: In this study, KOR mRNA expression was analysed by real-time quantitative PCR in 64 pairs of HCC tumour tissues and adjacent non-tumour tissues, and KOR protein expression was analysed by immunohistochemistry in 174 HCC patients...

BACKGROUND: For prostate cancer treatment, treatment options with minimal side effects are desired. External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is non-invasive, standard of care and delivered in either conventional fractionation over 8 weeks or with moderate hypo-fractionation over about 5 weeks. Recent advances in radiotherapy technology have made extreme hypo-fractionated stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) of prostate cancer feasible, which has not yet been introduced as a standard treatment method in Germany...

BACKGROUND: Poncet's disease is a rare syndrome characterized by articular impairment in a form of rare tuberculid. One of the theories of its cause involves an autoimmune response induced by the intravesical administration of the Calmette-Guerin Bacillus or the treatment of bladder carcinoma. Furthermore, there may be an appearance of oligoarticular or polyarticular arthritis, beginning 1-3 months after the start of therapy. Few physicians know the disease and the literature related to that syndrome is scarce and restricted to case reports, which contributes to its under diagnosis...

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Aims: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a significant cardiovascular complication following non-cardiac surgery. We sought to evaluate national trends in perioperative AMI, its management, and outcomes. Methods and results: Patients who underwent non-cardiac surgery from 2005 to 2013 were identified using the United States National Inpatient Sample. Perioperative AMI was evaluated over time. Propensity score matching was used to compile a cohort of AMI patients managed invasively (defined as cardiac catheterization or coronary revascularization) vs...