Search results for "Ull"
showing 10 items of 3152 documents
Genetic justification of severe COVID-19 using a rigorous algorithm
2021
Recent studies suggest excessive complement activation in severe coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). The latter shares common characteristics with complement-mediated thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). We hypothesized that genetic susceptibility would be evident in patients with severe COVID-19 (similar to TMA) and associated with disease severity. We analyzed genetic and clinical data from 97 patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Through targeted next-generation-sequencing we found an ADAMTS13 variant in 49 patients, along with two risk factor variants (C3, 21 patients; CFH,34 patients). 31 (32%) patients had a combination of these, which was independently associated with ICU hospitalization (…
Retrospective Analysis of Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy-Associated Cases of Bullous Pemphigoid From Six German Dermatology Centers
2021
Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are a class-effect of checkpoint inhibitors (CIs). The development of a Bullous pemphigoid (BP)-like blistering disease, driven by autoantibodies against the hemidesmosomal protein BP180, is a potentially serious irAE whose incidence seems to be increasing. We therefore set out to characterize the clinical and (immuno)histopathological features and treatment responses of cases of BP which developed during or after CI therapy collated in six German tertiary referral centers between 2014 and 2018. We identified twelve cases of BP which emerged during and/or after CI therapy. The time interval between the initiation of CI therapy and the diagnosis of BP wa…
Performance evaluation of a newly developed molecular assay for the accurate diagnosis of gastroenteritis associated with norovirus of genogroup II
2018
The performance of a newly proposed fully automated cassette-based sample-to-results solution for norovirus (NoV) detection, InGenius Norovirus ELITe MGB®, was evaluated. A total of 120 selected archival stool samples from children hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis were used to compare the results to a reference real-time RT-PCR. The InGenius NoV assay showed optimal diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 95.7%) and was able to correctly detect the entire wide panel of epidemiologically relevant genotypes tested. These preliminary results suggest that the InGenius NoV assay can be recommended as a valuable method for accurate diagnosis of NoV GII infection in epidemic and…
Multidimensional Prognostic Index and pro-adrenomedullin plasma levels as mortality risk predictors in older patients hospitalized with community-acq…
2018
BACKGROUND: To evaluate the prognostic accuracy of proadrenomedullin (proADM) in comparison with and in addition to the Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI), a validated predictive tool for mortality derived from a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) to predict one-month mortality risk in older patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). METHODS: All patients aged 65 years and older, consecutively admitted to an acute geriatric ward with a diagnosis of CAP from February to July 2012. At admission and at discharge they were submitted to a standard CGA in order to calculate MPI. Moreover, plasma samples were taken at baseline and after one, three and five days of ho…
Improved electroless platinum contacts on CdZnTe X- and γ-rays detectors
2020
AbstractPlatinum is a promising candidate for the realization of blocking electrical contacts on cadmium-zinc-telluride (CdZnTe or CZT) radiation detectors. However, the poor mechanical adhesion of this metal often shortens the lifetime of the final device. In this work, a simple and effective procedure to obtain robust platinum contacts by electroless deposition is presented. Microscopical analysis revealed the final thickness and composition of the contact layer and its adhesion to the bulk crystal. The blocking nature of the Pt-CdZnTe junction, essential to obtain low noise devices, was confirmed by current–voltage measurements. The planar Pt-CdZnTe-Pt detectors showed good room temperat…
Chronic hyperammonemia alters extracellular glutamate, glutamine and GABA and membrane expression of their transporters in rat cerebellum. Modulation…
2018
Trafficking of glutamate, glutamine and GABA between astrocytes and neurons is essential to maintain proper neurotransmission. Chronic hyperammonemia alters neurotransmission and cognitive function. The aims of this work were to analyze in cerebellum of rats the effects of chronic hyperammonemia on: a) extracellular glutamate, glutamine and GABA concentrations; b) membrane expression of glutamate, glutamine and GABA transporters; c) how they are modulated by extracellular cGMP. Hyperammonemic rats show increased levels of extracellular glutamate, glutamine, GABA and citrulline in cerebellum in vivo. Hyperammonemic rats show: a) increased membrane expression of the astrocytic glutamine trans…
Neutrophil extracellular traps impair fungal clearance in a mouse model of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis
2019
Abstract Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are formed by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) and contribute to the innate host defense by binding and killing bacterial and fungal pathogens. Because NET formation depends on histone hypercitrullination by peptidylarginine deiminase 4 (PAD4), we used PAD4 gene deficient (Pad4-/-) mice in a mouse model of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) to address the contribution of NETs to the innate host defense in vivo. After the induction (24 h) of IPA by i.t. infection with Aspergillus fumigatus conidia, Pad4-/- mice revealed lower fungal burden in the lungs, accompanied by less acute lung injury, TNFα and citH3 compared to wildtype controls. T…
Target Therapies for Uterine Carcinosarcomas: Current Evidence and Future Perspectives
2017
Carcinosarcomas (CS) in gynecology are very infrequent and represent only 2–5% of uterine cancers. Despite surgical cytoreduction and subsequent chemotherapy being the primary treatment for uterine CS, the overall five-year survival rate is 30 ± 9% and recurrence is extremely common (50–80%). Due to the poor prognosis of CS, new strategies have been developed in the last few decades, targeting known dysfunctional molecular pathways for immunotherapy. In this paper, we aimed to gather the available evidence on the latest therapies for the treatment of CS. We performed a systematic review using the terms “uterine carcinosarcoma”, “uterine Malignant Mixed Müllerian Tumors”, “target therapies”,…
Developmental transcriptomics in Atlantic haddock: Illuminating pattern formation and organogenesis in non-model vertebrates.
2016
Gadiforms such as Atlantic haddock comprise some of the world's most economically important fisheries. Understanding the early life history of these fish is a prerequisite for predicting effects of a changing environment and increased human activities. Robust assessment of the effects of environmental impacts on the embryos of non-model vertebrates is hampered by a lack of molecular resources and detailed knowledge regarding the regulation of genes and pathways in early development. Here we used mRNA sequencing to link transcriptional changes to developmental processes in haddock, specifically, pattern formation and organogenesis. Temporal expression of key developmental genes was tightly a…
Cilia - The sensory antennae in the eye
2017
Cilia are hair-like projections found on almost all cells in the human body. Originally believed to function merely in motility, the function of solitary non-motile (primary) cilia was long overlooked. Recent research has demonstrated that primary cilia function as signalling hubs that sense environmental cues and are pivotal for organ development and function, tissue hoemoestasis, and maintenance of human health. Cilia share a common anatomy and their diverse functional features are achieved by evolutionarily conserved functional modules, organized into sub-compartments. Defects in these functional modules are responsible for a rapidly growing list of human diseases collectively termed cil…