TASK DEFINITION: Given a passage, construct a question on the basis of the information present in the passage. Construct the question in such a way that (i) it is unambiguous, (ii) it is answerable from the passage, (iii) its answer is unique (iv) it answer uses text phrases from the passage. Avoid creating questions that (i) can't be answered correctly without actually understanding the passage and (ii) uses the same words or phrases given in the passage.
PROBLEM: A distinct velocity pattern represented by a "notch" is observed during the time interval between the end of the systolic and the onset of the early diastolic velocity wave on longitudinal myocardial velocity curve. The origin of the post-systolic velocity notch (PSN) has not been resolved.', 'The high frame rate color tissue Doppler imaging of the apical longitudinal axis was performed in 32 healthy subjects.', 'The time delays of the PSN onset at the posterior aortic wall (AW), the mid anteroseptal wall (MAS) and the posterior mitral annulus (MA) relatively to the anterior aortic annulus (AA) were found to be significantly longer than zero (5.1 ± 2.2, 6.0 ± 2.3, 6.8 ± 2.8 ms; p < 0.001). The amplitude was the highest at the AA when compared to the AW, the MAS and the MA (4.77 ± 1.28 vs. 2.88 ± 1.11, 2.15 ± 0.73, 2.44 ± 1.17 cm/s; p < 0.001). A second PSN spike was identifiable in 10/32 (31%) of the studied subjects at the AA. Of these, 9 (28%) exhibited a second PSN spike at the AW, 3 (9%) at the MAS and no one at the MA.

SOLUTION: Does the tissue Doppler imaging derived post-systolic velocity notch originate at the aortic annulus?

PROBLEM: Neuroblastoma is a common pediatric solid tumor with poor outcome for metastatic disease. Thus, novel therapeutic options are of main interest. The anti-neoplastic properties of taurolidine have been demonstrated on a variety of human cancer cells. However, data on neuroblastoma is lacking. Therefore, our aim was to evaluate the effect of taurolidine on growth of neuroblastoma cell lines.', 'Neuroblastoma SK-N-BE(2)-M17 and SK-N-SH cells and nonmalignant human umbilical vein endothelial cells as controls were incubated with increasing concentrations of taurolidine (100, 250, 500 µM). Cell growth was examined after 12, 24, and 48 hours of exposure.', 'Inhibition of cell growth by taurolidine was seen in both malignant cell lines. When compared with human umbilical vein endothelial cells, the neuroblastoma cell lines were significantly more responsive to taurolidine.

SOLUTION: Does taurolidine specifically inhibit growth of neuroblastoma cell lines in vitro?

PROBLEM: There is growing evidence that hypertensive pregnancy complications and other adverse pregnancy outcomes are associated with the presence of inherited or acquired thrombophilias. As hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets (HELLP) syndrome is one of the most severe forms of pre-eclampsia we aimed to assess the prevalence of the factor V Leiden, the prothrombin 20210G >A mutation and the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C >T polymorphism in women with HELLP syndrome and in their fetuses from the same index pregnancy.', 'The study was performed retrospectively in a case-control design.', 'Seventy-one mother-child pairs with HELLP syndrome and 79 control mother-child pairs with uncomplicated pregnancies were included in the study.', 'Genotyping of the three thrombophilic mutations was performed using the LightCycler technology. The chi-squared test was used for statistical analysis. Main outcome measures were maternal and fetal genotypes and their correlation with clinical parameters.', 'Maternal heterozygosity for factor V Leiden was significantly more prevalent in the HELLP group than in controls (OR 4.45, 95% CI 1.31-15.31). No significant association was observed for maternal prothrombin mutation or MTHFR polymorphism (p=0.894, p=0.189, respectively). The fetal genotype was not associated with HELLP syndrome for any of the three mutations investigated. Analysis of gene-gene interactions and genotype-phenotype correlation with respect to clinical parameters and perinatal outcome revealed no further differences.

SOLUTION:
Is maternal factor V Leiden mutation associated with HELLP syndrome in Caucasian women?