A comparison of the conformability of everolimus-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffolds to metal platform coronary stents

The aim of this study was to assess the differences in terms of curvature and angulation of the treated vessel after the deployment of either a metallic stent or a polymeric scaffold device.

Effect of platform switching on peri-implant bone levels: a randomized clinical trial

The concept of platform switching has been introduced to implant dentistry based on observations of reduced peri-implant bone loss. However, randomized clinical trials are still lacking. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that platform switching has a positive impact on crestal bone-level changes.

Open or submerged healing of implants with platform switching: a randomized, controlled clinical trial

The temporal pattern of bone-level alterations in conventionally restored implants is dependent upon healing mode (open or submerged). This study examined the influence of healing on marginal bone levels at implants with a medium-rough surface including the implant collar and a clearance-fit implant-abutment connection restored according to a platform-switching concept.

Angiographic geometric changes of the lumen arterial wall after bioresorbable vascular scaffolds and metallic platform stents at 1-year follow-up

The aim of this study was to compare the angiographic changes in coronary geometry of the bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS) and metallic platform stent (MPS) between baseline and follow-up.

Citizen science reveals unexpected continental-scale evolutionary change in a model organism

Organisms provide some of the most sensitive indicators of climate change and evolutionary responses are becoming apparent in species with short generation times. Large datasets on genetic polymorphism that can provide an historical benchmark against which to test for recent evolutionary responses are very rare, but an exception is found in the brown-lipped banded snail (Cepaea nemoralis). This species is sensitive to its thermal environment and exhibits several polymorphisms of shell colour and banding pattern affecting shell albedo in the majority of populations within its native range in Europe. We tested for evolutionary changes in shell albedo that might have been driven by the warming of the climate in Europe over the last half century by compiling an historical dataset for 6,515 native populations of C. nemoralis and comparing this with new data on nearly 3,000 populations. The new data were sampled mainly in 2009 through the Evolution MegaLab, a citizen science project that engaged thousands of volunteers in 15 countries throughout Europe in the biggest such exercise ever undertaken. A known geographic cline in the frequency of the colour phenotype with the highest albedo (yellow) was shown to have persisted and a difference in colour frequency between woodland and more open habitats was confirmed, but there was no general increase in the frequency of yellow shells. This may have been because snails adapted to a warming climate through behavioural thermoregulation. By contrast, we detected an unexpected decrease in the frequency of Unbanded shells and an increase in the Mid-banded morph. Neither of these evolutionary changes appears to be a direct response to climate change, indicating that the influence of other selective agents, possibly related to changing predation pressure and habitat change with effects on micro-climate.

Analysis of cytokines in the peritoneal fluid of endometriosis patients as a function of the menstrual cycle stage using the Bio-Plex® platform

Endometriosis is a painful disease affecting 10-15% of reproductive-age women. Concentrations of several cytokines and angiogenic factors in peritoneal fluid (PF) have been found to correlate with the severity of the disease. However, levels of some analytes vary across the menstrual cycle, and an ideal biomarker of endometriosis has not yet been identified. We have compared the PF concentrations of different cytokines in proliferative and secretory phases in women with and without the disease using the Bio-Plex platform.

Exogenous gonadotropins have little impact on follicular but considerable effect on serum cytokine concentrations – a comparison between Natural Cycle and stimulated IVF using a multiplexed assay platform

Introduction: Throughout follicular growth and subsequent corpus luteum formation the leukocyte number increases and follicular vascularisation changes. These processes are enhanced under exogenous stimulation with gonadotropins. Cytokines released by leukocytes contribute to further recruitment and vascularisation of the follicle, and they play an important role in regulating ovarian steroidogenesis by influencing theca and granulosa–lutein cell function. Changes in cytokine and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentrations in the ovary as a consequence of gonadotropin stimulation may negatively influence oocyte quality. In this project we have compared the intrafollicular production of inflammatory cytokines and growth factors between natural IVF cycles (NC) and classical, gonadotropin-stimulated IVF cycles (gsIVF). Material and Methods: Serum on the day of oocyte retrieval and follicular fluid (FF) were collected in 37 NC and 39 gsIVF cycles. Thirteen women within this population underwent one NC and one gsIVF cycle each. A total of 14 cytokines from Bio-Plex panels I and II were determined in matched serum and FF samples using Luminex xMAP technology on the Bio-Plex(R) platform, using the serum protocol. Results: Tumour necrosis factor-alpha, RANTES, eotaxin and interferon-gamma-induced protein-10 levels were lower in FF than in serum, and thus not further investigated. Interleukin (IL)-6, -8, -10, -15, -18, monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), VEGF and leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) showed higher median concentrations in FF than in serum, indicating possible ovarian production. Moreover, most of these showed higher evels in the gsIVF than in the NC groups in the serum, but not in the follicular fluid. IL-8 was reduced in gsIVF cycles. Conclusion: The fact that serum but not FF levels of the studied cytokines were higher in the stimulated than in the natural cycles can be attributed to the increased number of active follicles present after controlled ovarian stimulation.