Comparative effectiveness of laparoscopic versus open colectomy in colon cancer patients: a study protocol for emulating a target trial using cancer registry data.

Introduction: The objective of this study is to compare the 5 year overall survival of patients with stage I-III colon cancer treated by laparoscopic colectomy versus open colectomy.

Methods: Using Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Cancer Registry data from 2008 to 2018, we will emulate a phase III, multicenter, open-label, two-parallel-arm hypothetical target trial in adult patients with stage I-III colon cancer who received laparoscopic or open colectomy as an elective treatment. An inverse-probability weighted Royston‒Parmar parametric survival model (RPpsm) will be used to estimate the hazard ratio of laparoscopic versus open surgery after confounding factors are balanced between the two treatment arms.

Durable lymphocyte subset elimination upon a single dose of AAV-delivered depletion antibody dissects immune control of chronic viral infection.

To interrogate the role of specific immune cells in infection, cancer, and autoimmunity, immunologists commonly use monoclonal depletion antibodies (depletion-mAbs) or genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs). To generate a tool that combines specific advantages and avoids select drawbacks of the two methods, we engineered adeno-associated viral vectors expressing depletion mAbs (depletion-AAVs). Single-dose depletion-AAV administration durably eliminated lymphocyte subsets in mice and avoided accessory deficiencies of GEMMs, such as marginal zone defects in B cell-deficient animals.

 (Rubiaceae, Rubieae), a new species from Lefkada (Ionian Islands, Greece) and its ecological position.

The new species, (Rubiaceae, Rubieae), a narrow endemic of the white cliffs of Lefkátas on the southwest coast of Lefkada (Greece) is described and illustrated and an IUCN assessment is presented. Vegetation relevés were performed at the single known locality, limestone cliffs facing the sea and revealed a new association, the -. The chromosome number of was determined as 2 = 4 = 44, being the single tetraploid species in the genus to date.

Personality systems interactions theory: an integrative framework complementing the study of the motivational and volitional dynamics underlying adjustment to chronic pain.

In the endeavor to advance our understanding of interindividual differences in dealing with chronic pain, numerous motivational theories have been invoked in the past decade. As they focus on relevant, yet different aspects of the dynamic, multilevel processes involved in human voluntary action control, research findings seem fragmented and inconsistent. Here we present Personality Systems Interactions theory as an integrative meta-framework elucidating how different motivational and volitional processes work in concert under varying contextual conditions.