No abstract

The panel formulated and provided the rationale for recommendations in favor of or against treatment interventions for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis has been defined as an acute, clinically significant, respiratory deterioration of unidentifiable cause. The objective of this international working group report on acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was to provide a comprehensive update on the topic. A literature review was conducted to identify all relevant English text publications and abstracts. Evidence-based updates on the epidemiology, etiology, risk factors, prognosis, and management of acute exacerbations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis are provided. Finally, to better reflect the current state of knowledge and improve the feasibility of future research into its etiology and treatment, the working group proposes a new conceptual framework for acute respiratory deterioration in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and a revised definition and diagnostic criteria for acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

No abstract

Despite enormous progress in the past few years the specific contribution of newly born granule cells to the function of the adult hippocampus is still not clear. We hypothesized that in order to solve this question particular attention has to be paid to the specific design, the analysis, and the interpretation of the learning test to be used. We thus designed a behavioral experiment along hypotheses derived from a computational model predicting that new neurons might be particularly relevant for learning conditions, in which novel aspects arise in familiar situations, thus putting high demands on the qualitative aspects of (re-)learning.In the reference memory version of the water maze task suppression of adult neurogenesis with temozolomide (TMZ) caused a highly specific learning deficit. Mice were tested in the hidden platform version of the Morris water maze (6 trials per day for 5 days with a reversal of the platform location on day 4). Testing was done at 4 weeks after the end of four cycles of treatment to minimize the number of potentially recruitable new neurons at the time of testing. The reduction of neurogenesis did not alter longterm potentiation in CA3 and the dentate gyrus but abolished the part of dentate gyrus LTP that is attributed to the new neurons. TMZ did not have any overt side effects at the time of testing, and both treated mice and controls learned to find the hidden platform. Qualitative analysis of search strategies, however, revealed that treated mice did not advance to spatially precise search strategies, in particular when learning a changed goal position (reversal). New neurons in the dentate gyrus thus seem to be necessary for adding flexibility to some hippocampus-dependent qualitative parameters of learning.Our finding that a lack of adult-generated granule cells specifically results in the animal's inability to precisely locate a hidden goal is also in accordance with a specialized role of the dentate gyrus in generating a metric rather than just a configurational map of the environment. The discovery of highly specific behavioral deficits as consequence of a suppression of adult hippocampal neurogenesis thus allows to link cellular hippocampal plasticity to well-defined hypotheses from theoretical models.

No abstract

The primary objective in the Bosentan Use in Interstitial Lung Disease-3 trial was not met. Bosentan was well tolerated. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 00391443).

We suggest BNP as a prognostic marker and as screening parameter for significant pulmonary hypertension in chronic lung disease.