Independent neurologic assessment was performed before CAS and at 1 day, 30 days, and annually after CAS. All primary end point events were independently BI-D1870 cell line adjudicated by a central committee.

Results: The periprocedural composite end point of DSMI (95%

confidence interval) in the first 220 participants was 2.3% (0.74%, 5.22%), with a combined death and stroke rate of 1.8% (0.50%, 4.59%) and a rate of death and major stroke of 0.5% (0.01%, 2.51%). As of January 3, 2011, the median follow-up for the entire 322-subject cohort for the long-term evaluation was 2.8 years. Freedom from the periprocedural composite of DSMI plus ipsilateral stroke thereafter was 95.4%, with an annualized ipsilateral stroke rate of 0.4%.

Conclusions: Wortmannin mouse CAS outcomes in patients at high risk for CEA have improved from earlier carotid stent trials. With periprocedural rates of DSMI of 2.3%, death or stroke at 1.8%, and death or major stroke

rate of 0.5%, PROTECT has the lowest rate of periprocedural complications among other comparable single-arm CAS trials in patients at high risk for CEA. (J Vasc Surg 2012;55:968-77.)”
“The cognitive deficits observed in schizophrenia are considered a core feature of the disease. Neuregulin-1 is a risk gene for schizophrenia that is involved in many neurodevelopmental and synaptic plasticity-related processes relevant to schizophrenia. Here, we have utilized a rat model (Nrg1(Tn)), which is hypomorphic for the neuregulin-1 (Nrg1) gene, to test whether reduced Type II NRG1 in the rat brain leads to cognitive deficits relevant to schizophrenia. Wild-type and homozygous Nrg1(Tn) male rats were tested in memory tasks that

evaluated spatial memory (Morris water maze) and visuospatial working and reference memory (Can Test). Nrg1(Tn) rats were not about impaired on the Morris water maze, but did show a deficit in the appetitive visuospatial discrimination test. Nrg1(Tn) rats committed more reference and working memory errors in this test. These results indicate that decreased Type II NRG1 in the brain may lead to deficits in visuospatial learning and memory. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Kidney failure is a major health problem worldwide. Patients with end-stage renal disease require intensive medical support by dialysis or kidney transplantation. Current methods for diagnosis of kidney disease are either invasive or insensitive, and renal function may decline by as much as 50% before it can be detected using current techniques. The goal of this study was, therefore, to identify biomarkers of kidney disease (associated with renal fibrosis) that can be used for the development of a non-invasive clinical test for early disease detection.