Search results for "57"
showing 10 items of 4186 documents
Type IV Laryngotracheoesophageal Cleft Associated with Type III Esophageal Atresia in 1p36 Deletions Containing the RERE Gene: Is There a Causal Role…
2018
The causes of embryological developmental anomalies leading to laryngotracheoesophageal clefts (LTECs) are not known, but are proposed to be multifactorial, including genetic and environmental factors. Haploinsufficiency of the RERE gene might contribute to different phenotypes seen in individuals with 1p36 deletions. We describe a neonate of an obese mother, diagnosed with type IV LTEC and type III esophageal atresia (EA), in which a 1p36 deletion including the RERE gene was detected. On the second day of life, a right thoracotomy and extrapleural esophagus atresia repair were attempted. One week later, a right cervical approach was performed to separate the cervical esophagus from the tra…
Complete locked-in and locked-in patients: Command following assessment and communication with vibro-tactile P300 and motor imagery brain-computer in…
2017
Many patients with locked-in syndrome (LIS) or complete locked-in syndrome (CLIS) also need brain-computer interface (BCI) platforms that do not rely on visual stimuli and are easy to use. We investigate command following and communication functions of mindBEAGLE with 9 LIS, 3 CLIS patients and three healthy controls. This tests were done with vibro-tactile stimulation with 2 or 3 stimulators (VT2 and VT3 mode) and with motor imagery (MI) paradigms. In VT2 the stimulators are fixed on the left and right wrist and the participant has the task to count the stimuli on the target hand in order to elicit a P300 response. In VT3 mode an additional stimulator is placed as a distractor on the shoul…
Assessing Command-Following and Communication With Vibro-Tactile P300 Brain-Computer Interface Tools in Patients With Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndro…
2018
Persons diagnosed with disorders of consciousness (DOC) typically suffer from motor disablities, and thus assessing their spared cognitive abilities can be difficult. Recent research from several groups has shown that non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) technology can provide assessments of these patients' cognitive function that can supplement information provided through conventional behavioral assessment methods. In rare cases, BCIs may provide a binary communication mechanism. Here, we present results from a vibrotactile BCI assessment aiming at detecting command-following and communication in 12 unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) patients. Two different paradigms were admi…
Prolonged Fasting Reduces IGF-1/PKA to Promote Hematopoietic-Stem-Cell-Based Regeneration and Reverse Immunosuppression
2016
SummaryImmune system defects are at the center of aging and a range of diseases. Here, we show that prolonged fasting reduces circulating IGF-1 levels and PKA activity in various cell populations, leading to signal transduction changes in long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs) and niche cells that promote stress resistance, self-renewal, and lineage-balanced regeneration. Multiple cycles of fasting abated the immunosuppression and mortality caused by chemotherapy and reversed age-dependent myeloid-bias in mice, in agreement with preliminary data on the protection of lymphocytes from chemotoxicity in fasting patients. The proregenerative effects of fasting on stem cells were recapitula…
Peripheral Blood and Cerebrospinal Fluid Cytokine Levels in Guillain Barré Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
2019
Background: Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) is an autoimmune disorder caused by the immune-mediated damage of the peripheral nervous system. Increasing evidence suggests that inflammatory cytokines are important mediators for the onset and progression of GBS. A number of clinical studies have demonstrated elevated levels of T helper-1 (Th1-), Th2-, and Th17-related cytokines in patients with GBS; however, the results were inconsistent across studies. Methods: We performed a systematic review and a meta-analysis of studies comparing the levels of inflammatory cytokines in the cerebrospinal fluid and peripheral blood between patients with GBS and healthy individuals, using Comprehensive Meta-An…
Effects of More-Affected vs. Less-Affected Motor Cortex tDCS in Parkinson’s Disease
2017
Objective. To evaluate therapeutic potential of different montages of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients with asymmetric motor symptoms. Materials and Methods. Fourteen patients with asymmetric PD underwent, while on treatment, seven separate sessions including electrophysiological and clinical evaluation at baseline and after anodal, cathodal and sham tDCS of the primary motor cortex (M1) of the two hemispheres. Changes in motor cortical excitability were evaluated by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Effects on motor symptoms were assessed by testing finger tapping and upper limb bradykinesia, and by using the Italian validated Movement Di…
PRR signaling during in vitro macrophage differentiation from progenitors modulates their subsequent response to inflammatory stimuli.
2017
Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists drive hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) to differentiate along the myeloid lineage in vitro and also in vivo following infection. In this study, we used an in vitro model of HSPC differentiation to investigate the functional consequences (cytokine production) that exposing HSPCs to various pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and Candida albicans cells have on the subsequently derived macrophages. Mouse HSPCs (Lin- cells) were cultured with GM-CSF to induce macrophage differentiation in the presence or absence of the following pattern recognition receptor (PRR) agonists: Pam3CSK4 (TLR2 ligand), LPS (TLR4 ligand), depleted zymosan (wh…
Antiepileptogenic Effect of Subchronic Palmitoylethanolamide Treatment in a Mouse Model of Acute Epilepsy
2018
Research on the antiepileptic effects of (endo-)cannabinoids has remarkably progressed in the years following the discovery of fundamental role of the endocannabinoid (eCB) system in controlling neural excitability. Moreover, an increasing number of well-documented cases of epilepsy patients exhibiting multi-drug resistance report beneficial effects of cannabis use. Pre-clinical and clinical research has increasingly focused on the antiepileptic effectiveness of exogenous administration of cannabinoids and/or pharmacologically induced increase of eCBs such as anandamide (also known as arachidonoylethanolamide [AEA]). Concomitant research has uncovered the contribution of neuroinflammatory p…
Immunomodulatory Therapy of Inflammatory Liver Disease Using Selectin-Binding Glycopolymers
2017
Immunotherapies have the potential to significantly advance treatment of inflammatory disease and cancer, which are in large part driven by immune cells. Selectins control the first step in immune cell adhesion and extravasation, thereby guiding leukocyte trafficking to tissue lesions. We analyzed four different highly specific selectin-binding glycopolymers, based on linear poly(2-hydroxypropyl)-methacrylamide (PHPMA) polymers. These glycopolymers contain either the tetrasaccharide sialyl-LewisX (SLeX) or the individual carbohydrates fucose, galactose, and sialic acids mimicking the complex SLeX binding motive. The glycopolymers strongly bind to primary human macrophages, without activatin…
Virotherapy in Germany—Recent Activities in Virus Engineering, Preclinical Development, and Clinical Studies
2021
Virotherapy research involves the development, exploration, and application of oncolytic viruses that combine direct killing of cancer cells by viral infection, replication, and spread (oncolysis) with indirect killing by induction of anti-tumor immune responses. Oncolytic viruses can also be engineered to genetically deliver therapeutic proteins for direct or indirect cancer cell killing. In this review—as part of the special edition on “State-of-the-Art Viral Vector Gene Therapy in Germany”—the German community of virotherapists provides an overview of their recent research activities that cover endeavors from screening and engineering viruses as oncolytic cancer therapeutics to their cli…