Institution
Medical University of Graz
Education•Graz, Steiermark, Austria•
About: Medical University of Graz is a education organization based out in Graz, Steiermark, Austria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 5684 authors who have published 12349 publications receiving 417282 citations.
Topics: Population, Medicine, Cancer, Transplantation, Vitamin D and neurology
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
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TL;DR: Findings in 428 individuals born preterm suggest that normal GMs along with a normal motor repertoire during the first months after term are markers for normal cognitive development until at least age 10.
Abstract: Apart from motor and behavioral dysfunctions, deficits in cognitive skills are among the well-documented sequelae of preterm birth. However, early identification of infants at risk for poor cognition is still a challenge, as no clear association between pathological findings based on neuroimaging scans and cognitive functions have been detected as yet. The Prechtl General Movement Assessment (GMA) has shown its merits for the evaluation of the integrity of the young nervous system. It is a reliable tool for identifying infants at risk for neuromotor deficits. Recent studies on preterm infants demonstrate that abnormal general movements (GMs) also reflect impairments of brain areas involved in cognitive development. The aim of this systematic review was to discuss studies that included (i) the Prechtl GMA applied in preterm infants, and (ii) cognitive outcome measures in six data bases. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria and yielded the following results: (a) children born preterm with consistently abnormal GMs up to 8 weeks after term had lower intelligence quotients at school age than children with an early normalization of GMs; (b) from 3 to 5 months after term, several qualitative, and quantitative aspects of the concurrent motor repertoire, including postural patterns, were predictive of intelligence at 7-10 years of age. These findings in 428 individuals born preterm suggest that normal GMs along with a normal motor repertoire during the first months after term are markers for normal cognitive development until at least age 10.
134 citations
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TL;DR: An extended LND can provide better disease staging and may be curative in patients with limited nodal disease, however, current evidence is based on retrospective studies, which limits the ability to standardize either the indication or the extent of LND.
134 citations
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TL;DR: This data indicates that faecal microbiota transplantation is an experimental approach for the treatment of patients with ulcerative colitis and shows promise in terms of improving the quality of life and reducing the likelihood of recurrence.
Abstract: SummaryBackground
Faecal microbiota transplantation is an experimental approach for the treatment of patients with ulcerative colitis. Although there is growing evidence that faecal microbiota transplantation is effective in this disease, factors affecting its response are unknown.
Aims
To establish a faecal microbiota transplantation treatment protocol in ulcerative colitis patients, and to investigate which patient or donor factors are responsible for the treatment success.
Methods
This is an open controlled trial of repeated faecal microbiota transplantation after antibiotic pre-treatment (FMT-group, n = 17) vs antibiotic pre-treatment only (AB-group, n = 10) in 27 therapy refractory ulcerative colitis patients over 90 days. Faecal samples of donors and patients were analysed by 16SrRNA gene-based microbiota analysis.
Results
In the FMT-group, 10/17 (59%) of patients showed a response and 4/17 (24%) a remission to faecal microbiota transplantation. Response to faecal microbiota transplantation was mainly influenced by the taxonomic composition of the donor's microbiota. Stool of donors with a high bacterial richness (observed species remission 946 ± 93 vs no response 797 ± 181 at 15367 rps) and a high relative abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila (3.3 ± 3.1% vs 0.1 ± 0.2%), unclassified Ruminococcaceae (13.8 ± 5.0% vs 7.5 ± 3.7%), and Ruminococcus spp. (4.9 ± 3.5% vs 1.0 ± 0.7%) were more likely to induce remission. In contrast antibiotic treatment alone (AB-group) was poorly tolerated, probably because of a sustained decrease of intestinal microbial richness.
Conclusions
The taxonomic composition of the donor's intestinal microbiota is a major factor influencing the efficacy of faecal microbiota transplantation in ulcerative colitis patients. The design of specific microbial preparation might lead to new treatments for ulcerative colitis.
134 citations
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TL;DR: Clinical retrospective and prospective observational studies linking vitamin D levels with cardio-metabolic risk factors and vascular outcome are summarized and various randomised controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of vitamin D supplementation on surrogate markers of cardiovascular risk are reviewed.
Abstract: Several studies have shown that vitamin D may play a role in many biochemical mechanisms in addition to bone and calcium metabolism. Recently, vitamin D has sparked widespread interest because of its involvement in the homeostasis of the cardiovascular system. Hypovitaminosis D has been associated with obesity, related to trapping in adipose tissue due to its lipophilic structure. In addition, vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and this may be due to the relationship between low vitamin D levels and obesity, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia, endothelial dysfunction and hypertension. However, although vitamin D has been identified as a potentially important marker of CVD, the mechanisms through which it might modulate cardiovascular risk are not fully understood. Given this background, in this work we summarise clinical retrospective and prospective observational studies linking vitamin D levels with cardio-metabolic risk factors and vascular outcome. Moreover, we review various randomised controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of vitamin D supplementation on surrogate markers of cardiovascular risk. Considering the high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D among patients with high cardiovascular risk, vitamin D replacement therapy in this population may be warranted; however, further RCTs are urgently needed to establish when to begin vitamin D therapy, as well as to determine the dose and route and duration of administration.
134 citations
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TL;DR: The results highlight the need to incorporate the structural differences into finite-element simulations as otherwise simulations of AAA tissues might not be good predictors for the actual in vivo stress state.
Abstract: Soft biological tissues such as aortic walls can be viewed as fibrous composites assembled by a ground matrix and embedded families of collagen fibres. Changes in the structural components of aortic walls such as the ground matrix and the embedded families of collagen fibres have been shown to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of aortic degeneration. Hence, there is a need to develop a deeper understanding of the microstructure and the related mechanics of aortic walls. In this study, tissue samples from 17 human abdominal aortas (AA) and from 11 abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are systematically analysed and compared with respect to their structural and mechanical differences. The collagen microstructure is examined by analysing data from second-harmonic generation imaging after optical clearing. Samples from the intact AA wall, their individual layers and the AAA wall are mechanically investigated using biaxial stretching tests. A bivariate von Mises distribution was used to represent the continuous fibre dispersion throughout the entire thickness, and to provide two independent dispersion parameters to be used in a recently proposed material model. Remarkable differences were found between healthy and diseased tissues. The out-of-plane dispersion was significantly higher in AAA when compared with AA tissues, and with the exception of one AAA sample, the characteristic wall structure, as visible in healthy AAs with three distinct layers, could not be identified in AAA samples. The collagen fibres in the abluminal layer of AAAs lost their waviness and exhibited rather straight and thick struts of collagen. A novel set of three structural and three material parameters is provided. With the structural parameters fixed, the material model was fitted to the mechanical experimental data, giving a very satisfying fit although there are only three material parameters involved. The results highlight the need to incorporate the structural differences into finite-element simulations as otherwise simulations of AAA tissues might not be good predictors for the actual in vivo stress state.
133 citations
Authors
Showing all 5763 results
Name | H-index | Papers | Citations |
---|---|---|---|
Ian J. Deary | 166 | 1795 | 114161 |
James F. Wilson | 146 | 677 | 101883 |
Nancy L. Pedersen | 145 | 890 | 94696 |
William Wijns | 127 | 752 | 95517 |
Andrew Simmons | 102 | 460 | 36608 |
Franz Fazekas | 101 | 629 | 49775 |
Hans-Peter Hartung | 100 | 810 | 49792 |
Michael Trauner | 98 | 667 | 35543 |
Dietmar Fuchs | 97 | 1119 | 39758 |
Funda Meric-Bernstam | 96 | 753 | 36803 |
Ulf Landmesser | 94 | 564 | 46096 |
Aysegul A. Sahin | 93 | 322 | 30038 |
Frank Madeo | 92 | 269 | 45942 |
Takayoshi Ohkubo | 91 | 631 | 69634 |
Jürgen C. Becker | 90 | 637 | 28741 |