Background:Screening is an unsolved problem for ovarian cancer (OvCA). As late detection is equivalent to poor prognosis, we analysed whether OvCA patients show diagnostically meaningful microRNA (miRNA) patterns in blood cells.Methods:Blood-borne whole miRNome profiles from 24 patients with OvCA and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were biostatistically evaluated.Results:Student's t-test revealed 147 significantly deregulated miRNAs before and 4 after Benjamini–Hochberg adjustment. Although these included miRNAs already linked to OvCA (e.g., miR-16, miR-155), others had never before been connected to specific diseases. A bioinformatically calculated miRNA profile allowed for discrimination between blood samples of OvCA patients and healthy controls with an accuracy of >76%. When only cancers of the serous subtype were considered and compared with an extended control group (n=39), accuracy, specificity and sensitivity all increased to >85%.Conclusion:Our proof-of-principle study strengthens the hypothesis that neoplastic diseases generate characteristic miRNA fingerprints in blood cells. Still, the obtained OvCA-associated miRNA pattern is not yet sensitive and specific enough to permit the monitoring of disease progression or even preventive screening. Microarray-based miRNA profiling from peripheral blood could thus be combined with other markers to improve the notoriously difficult but important screening for OvCA.

Festination and freezing of gait (FOG) are sudden episodic inabilities to initiate or sustain locomotion mostly experienced during the later stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) or other higher-level gait disorders. The aim of this study was to develop a clinical rating instrument for short-interval rating of festination and FOG. Foot movements of 33 patients were video taped and rated during 12 episodes in a standardized course on a four-level interval scale according to severity. Motor blocks were provoked in four situations and by three levels of dual-tasking (tasks). Addition of the item scores produced a FOG score. The assessment requires less than 15 min. The inter-rater and re-test reliability of the FOG score is high (Kendall kappa = 0.85-0.92, P < 0.0001). Variability of the item scale due to situations and tasks can be attributed to unidimensional group factors (Cronbach's alpha 0.84 and 0.94). Group comparisons and a logistic regression model show significant effects for both situations and tasks on the item scale (Friedman test: "situation": P < 0.0001, "task": P < 0.0001). Six patients with PD have significantly different scores during mobile (practical ON; 6.2 +/- 3.9) and immobile (practical OFF; 15.8 +/- 4.6) medication states (P < 0.05). The FOG score correlates with the 10 m number of steps (rho = 0.58; P = 0.001) and with the self-evaluation of FOG (rho = 0.51; P < 0.01). Our results encourage the further use of the FOG score to evaluate festination and FOG.

Compared to resection, pancreatic enucleation is associated with improved operative as well as short- and long-term postoperative outcomes. For small benign and premalignant pancreatic lesions, enucleation should be considered the procedure of choice when technically appropriate.

The two-week physiotherapy programme reduced the severity of freezing in patients with Parkinson's disease.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative neurological disorder. Patients suffer from different movement disturbances. Amongst others, freezing of gait (FOG) is a common and disabling feature. A new method for FOG detection using a garment with integrated accelerometers, the MiMed-Pants, is presented and evaluated. MiMed-Pants are loose fitting washable pants for measuring movements and were previously developed. The accelerations of shanks and belt of 6 patients were recorded while walking on two standardized courses. The occurrence of FOG were detected and documented both by the new method and by a physician. Those recordings were then compared afterwards to determine the new method's sensitivity and specificity. With this wearable measurement device FOG could be detected without the distracting effects of an extensive measurement installation.

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