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Focuses on the implications of transference and countertransference for the treatment of dependence. Remarks of psychoanalyst Michael Fordham on the essential effective component of analytical psychotherapy; Problems related to dependence; Dialectical process between two persons equally involved.

The article presents a study which compares the outcome of short-stay and long-stay in-patient treatment of male alcoholics. The researchers conducted the study on 62 patients, followed-up two year after discharge. They also examined variables that influence on the outcome such as social class, social maladjustment and history of delirium treatments. Findings reveal no significant differences in the outcome of both short-stay and long-stay in-patient treatment. About 50% of the subjects in both methods had been abstinent and two-thirds had shown favorable improvement.

The article describes the rating scales used for the assessment of prognosis and outcome in the treatment of alcoholism. The prognostic scales, which can be regarded as ordinal scales, cover four major areas which include social adjustment, previous treatment of alcoholism and responses to such treatment, effects of alcoholism, and insight or the patient's awareness of the illness. Each scale under the four major areas is briefly discussed. The general principles underlying these scales, as well as their reproducibility are described.

The article discusses the study which aims to present an enumerative survey of abuse of heroin and methadone among persons aged 30 and below in Oxford, England in 1969. The sources used in this survey include the press, the city children's department, local authority and independent schools, the police, the Oxford Probation Service, hospitals, general practitioners, the city's Medical Officer of Health, and drug users. The study reveals that there is high relative prevalence of dependence in girls aged 15-19, and there is a statistically significant difference from the sex distribution in the Registrar General's Annual Estimates.

Diabetes mellitus, a chronic and non-transmissible disease, triggers a wide range of micro- and macrovascular complications. The differentiation of pancreatic β-like cells (PβLCs) from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) offers a promising avenue for regenerative medicine aimed at treating diabetes. Current differentiation protocols strive to emulate pancreatic embryonic development by utilizing cytokines and small molecules at specific doses to activate and inhibit distinct molecular signaling pathways, directing the differentiation of iPSCs into pancreatic β cells. Despite significant progress and improved protocols, the full spectrum of molecular signaling pathways governing pancreatic development and the physiological characteristics of the differentiated cells are not yet fully understood. Here, we report a specific combination of cofactors and small molecules that successfully differentiate iPSCs into PβLCs. Our protocol has shown to be effective, with the resulting cells exhibiting key functional properties of pancreatic β cells, including the expression of crucial molecular markers (pdx1, nkx6.1, ngn3) and the capability to secrete insulin in response to glucose. Furthermore, the addition of vitamin C and retinoic acid in the final stages of differentiation led to the overexpression of specific β cell genes.

Background: Sarcopenia has been identified as a risk factor for perioperative adverse events. Several studies have shown that tomographic assessment of muscle mass can be an appropriate indicator of sarcopenia associated with morbidity and mortality. The aim of the study was to determine the association between height-adjusted area of ​​the pectoral and erector spinae muscles (haPMA and haESA) and perioperative morbidity and mortality in thoracic surgery., Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Measurement of muscle areas was performed by tomography. The outcomes were 30-day mortality and postoperative morbidity. The discriminative capacity of the muscle areas was evaluated with an analysis of ROC curves and the Youden index was used to establish a cut-off point. The raw morbidity and mortality risk was determined and adjusted for potential confounders., Results: A total of 509 patients taken to thoracic surgery were included. The incidence of 30-day mortality was 7.3%. An association was found between muscle areas and 30-day mortality and pneumonia, with adequate discriminative power for mortality (AUC 0.68 for haPMA and 0.67 for haESA). An haPMA less than 10 and haESA less than 8.5 cm 2 /m 2 were identified as a risk factor for 30-day mortality with an adjusted OR of 2.34 (95%CI 1.03-5.15) and 2.22 (95%CI 1.10-6.04) respectively., Conclusions: Sarcopenia, defined as low muscle area in the pectoral and erector spinae muscles, is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing thoracic surgery., (Copyright © 2024 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: Based on previous in vivo studies and human trials, intrathecal cell delivery is a safe and relevant therapeutic tool for improving patient's quality of life with neurological conditions. We aimed to characterise the safety profile of intrathecally delivered Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)., Methods: Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library, KCI-Korean Journal Database, and Web of Science. Databases were searched from their inception until April 13, 2023. Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) that compared intrathecal delivery of MSCs to controls in adult populations were included. Adverse events (AEs) were pooled and meta-analysed using DerSimonian-Laird random effects models with a correction factor 0.5 added to studies with zero count cells. Pooled AEs were described using Risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Then, a random-effects meta-regress model on study-level summary data was performed to explore the relationship between the occurrence of AEs and covariates thought to modify the overall effect estimate. Finally, publication bias was assessed., Results: 303 records were reviewed, and nine RCTs met the inclusion criteria and were included in the quantitative synthesis (n = 540 patients). MSCs delivered intrathecally, as compared to controls, were associated with an increased probability of AEs of musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders (categorised by Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events-CTCAE version 5.0) (RR: 1.61, 95% CI 1.19-2.19, I 2  = 0%). The random-effects meta-regress model suggested that fresh MSCs increased the probability of occurrence of AEs compared to cryopreserved MSCs (RR: 1.554; p-value = 0.048; 95% CI 1.004-2.404), and the multiple-dose, decreased the probability of AEs by 36% compared to single doses (RR: 0.644; p-value = 0.048; 95% CI 0.416-0.996); however, univariate random effects meta-regression models revealed a not significant association between the occurrence of AEs from MSCs intrathecal delivery and each covariate., Conclusions: Intrathecal delivery of MSCs was associated with a slight increase in AEs associated with musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders, albeit without serious AEs. We conclude that intrathecal MSCs delivery is safe for patients with neurological conditions. However, further high-quality, large-scale RCTs are needed to confirm these findings., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background and Objectives: Some patients have insufficient treatment response to conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (cDMARD); although biologics have proven to be an effective treatment for RA, the effects that bDMARDs have on integumentary, cardiac, and immune systems and the high costs associated with these treatments, make that mesenchymal stem cell-based therapies (MSCs) for RA are being considered potential treatment methods. This work analyses the performance in safety and efficacy terms of MSCs techniques., Methods and Finding: A literature search was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Open Grey databases from inception to October 28, 2022. Three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and one non-randomized controlled trial (non-RCTs), including 358 patients met our inclusion criteria and were included in qualitative synthesis; only RCTs were eligible for quantitative synthesis (meta-analysis). Meta-analysis of adverse events (AE) in RCTs showed no significant differences in the incidence of AE in the MSCs group compared to the control group (Risk ratio: 2.35; 95% CI, 0.58 to 9.58; I2 = 58.80%). The pooled Risk ratio for non-serious and serious adverse events showed no statistical difference between intervention and control groups concerning the incidence of non-serious and serious adverse events (Risk ratio: 2.35; 95% CI, 0.58 to 9.51; I2 = 58.62%) and (Risk ratio: 1.10; 95% CI, 0.15 to 7.97; I2 = 0.0%) respectively. The Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and Disease Activity Score (DAS28) decreased in agreement with the decreasing values of C-reactive protein (CRP) and Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). Additionally, a trend toward clinical efficacy was observed; however, this improvement was not shown in the studies after 12 months of follow-up without continuous treatment administration., Conclusion: This Systematic review and meta-analysis showed a favorable safety profile, without life-threatening events in subjects with RA, and a trend toward clinical efficacy that must be confirmed through high-quality RCTs, considerable sample size, and extended follow-up in subjects with RA., Competing Interests: According to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ uniform declaration of competing interests, the authors [LEM, LLQ, FBA, KH, JCC] declare that they are employees of a commercial company named BioXcellerator, but this does not alter their adherence to PLOS ONE policy on sharing data and materials., (Copyright: © 2023 Mesa et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: High-grade osteosarcoma is the most common malignant bone tumor in children and adolescents. This study aimed to evaluate the histologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and overall and event-free survival rates in patients < 21 years of age with a diagnosis of conventional osteosarcoma., Methods: We conducted an analytical and observational study of a cohort of patients < 21 years old with a diagnosis of conventional osteosarcoma treated with the OS INC-2009 protocol (based on EURAMOS-1). Descriptive analysis was performed, and overall and event-free survival rates were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method., Results: Between April 2009 and October 2016, 84 patients with conventional osteosarcoma (mean age 13.5 ± 3.2 years) were admitted. Metastatic disease at diagnosis was observed in 36 patients (42.8%). Of the 41 patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (50.6%), 15 (36.6%; confidence interval [95% CI]: 49.9-75.6) were classified as good responders and 26 (63%; 95% CI: 22.5-58.0) as poor responders. The 5-year overall and event-free survival rates in good responders were 88.8% (95% CI: 43.3-98.3) and 81.4% (95% CI: 43.5-95.0); in poor responders it was 66.5% (95% CI: 40.7-83.1) and 31.4% (95% CI: 13.8-50.7), respectively., Conclusions: Good responders' evaluation of histologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy showed improved overall and event-free survival rates. Specialized centers with multidisciplinary and comprehensive management are required to make the application of high-toxicity protocols feasible., (Copyright: © 2022 Permanyer.)

Background: Brachial plexus block has become one of the most widely-used anaesthetic techniques in the world for upper limb anaesthesia. There are three different brachial blocks techniques: supraclavicular, infraclavicular and axillary block. However, its execution is not exempt from possible clinical complications, and it is not clear which of these is associated with a lower complication rate and greater anaesthetic success., Materials and Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis following the Cochrane and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines to identify controlled clinical trials reporting the three techniques. The main outcome was the incidence of anaesthetic complications, and the secondary ones were an anaesthetic success, time of performance and anaesthetic latency., Results: 25 controlled clinical trials, with 2012 patient, were included. The methodological quality of the included studies is moderate to high. For the main outcome, the main complication reported was a vascular puncture, followed by transient neurological injury, symptomatic diaphragmatic paralysis and pneumothorax. No differences were found in complications associated with the three anaesthetic techniques. Additionally, no differences were found regarding anaesthetic success., Conclusions: Anesthetic complications associated with the three brachial block techniques are low, with no medium and long-term sequelae; however, none of the three techniques seems to be superior among them to reduce these complications. All three techniques are highly successful when performed using ultrasound imaging., (Copyright © 2021. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.)

Adipose tissue is the largest endocrine organ in humans and has an important influence on many physiological processes throughout life. An increasing number of studies have described the different phenotypic characteristics of fat cells in adults. Perhaps one of the most important properties of fat cells is their ability to adapt to different environmental and nutritional conditions. Hypothalamic neural circuits receive peripheral signals from temperature, physical activity or nutrients and stimulate the metabolism of white fat cells. During this process, changes in lipid inclusion occur, and the number of mitochondria increases, giving these cells functional properties similar to those of brown fat cells. Recently, beige fat cells have been studied for their potential role in the regulation of obesity and insulin resistance. In this context, it is important to understand the embryonic origin of beige adipocytes, the response of adipocyte to environmental changes or modifications within the body and their ability to transdifferentiate to elucidate the roles of these cells for their potential use in therapeutic strategies for obesity and metabolic diseases. In this review, we discuss the origins of the different fat cells and the possible therapeutic properties of beige fat cells.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality, with an increasing incidence worldwide. The impact of DM on public health in developing countries has triggered alarm due to the exaggerated costs of the treatment and monitoring of patients with this disease. Considerable efforts have been made to try to prevent the onset and reduce the complications of DM. However, because insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells progressively deteriorate, many people must receive insulin through subcutaneous injection. Additionally, current therapies do not have consistent results regarding the prevention of chronic complications. Leveraging the approval of real-time continuous glucose monitors and sophisticated algorithms that partially automate insulin infusion pumps has improved glycemic control, decreasing the burden of diabetes management. However, these advances are facing physiologic barriers. New findings in molecular and cellular biology have produced an extraordinary advancement in tissue development for the treatment of DM. Obtaining pancreatic β-cells from somatic cells is a great resource that currently exists for patients with DM. Although this therapeutic option has great prospects for patients, some challenges remain for this therapeutic plan to be used clinically. The purpose of this review is to describe the new techniques in cell biology and regenerative medicine as possible treatments for DM. In particular, this review highlights the origin of induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs) and how they have begun to emerge as a regenerative treatment that may mitigate the pathology of this disease.

Introduction: The analysis of injuries caused by traffic from a physical and mathematical perspective can help improve road safety strategies. Objective: Predict the dynamics of traffic fatalities in the states of Maryland and Massachusetts for the years 2004 and 2014 in the context of probabilistic random walk. Methods: An analysis was made of the number of total fatalities caused by traffic per year, in the states of Maryland and Massachusetts between the years 1994-2003 and 1994-2013. The behavior of these values was analyzed as a probabilistic random walk; for this, the probabilistic lengths were found for each year, during the period studied and four probability spaces were analyzed, with which it was possible to analyze their behavior, to establish a prediction of the number of total fatalities caused by traffic for the years 2004 and 2014. Results: The predictions for the years 2014 and 2004 for Maryland and Massachusetts when compared with the real values, the percentage of success was 98%. Main conclusion: The predictions for the years 2014 and 2004 for Maryland and Massachusetts when compared with the real values, the percentage of success was 98%. Conclusions: the behavior of traffic fatalities in Maryland and Massachusetts presented a predictable self-organization from the context of probabilistic random walk, constituting a useful tool for analyzing the operation of road safety strategies., (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba)