Publications by authors named "Alexander Martin"

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  • A study investigated whether stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is just as effective as standard radiotherapy for treating localized prostate cancer in terms of treatment failure rates.
  • The trial involved 874 men with early-stage prostate cancer, comparing SBRT (36.25 Gy in 5 sessions) to conventional radiotherapy (78 Gy in 39 sessions or 62 Gy in 20 sessions) over several weeks, focusing on the chance of being free from cancer progression after 5 years.
  • Results showed that SBRT was noninferior to standard treatment, with similar success rates in preventing cancer failure (95.8% for SBRT vs. 94.6% for control) but higher rates of genitour
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Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) has conventionally been used for cell cryopreservation both in research and in clinical applications, but has long-term cytotoxic effects. Trehalose, a natural disaccharide, has been proposed as a non-toxic cryoprotectant. However, the lack of specific cell membrane transporter receptors inhibits transmembrane transport and severely limits its cryoprotective capability.

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Background: The growing burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) places substantial financial pressures on patients, healthcare systems, and society. An understanding of the costs attributed to CKD and kidney replacement therapy (KRT) is essential for evidence-based policy making. maps and projects the economic burden of CKD across 31 countries/regions from 2022 to 2027.

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In this case series, we present a methodology for a proof of principle for the development of a unique biomarker for pigmentary glaucoma to detect progression before nerve fiber layer loss. Out of the five patients in this case series, one was excluded because of an outlier due to pseudoexfoliation syndrome with excessively dense pigmentation of the trabecular meshwork. The remaining patients displayed a decreased visual field loss with increased superior to inferior trabecular meshwork ratios.

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  • The stratosphere presents extreme conditions like low pressure, very low temperatures, and high UV and cosmic radiation that challenge microorganism survival.
  • A sample gondola was launched to the stratosphere to study the effects of these conditions on endospores and microbial communities, revealing that survival rates were negatively influenced by UV exposure angle.
  • Results showed at least 1% survival for environmental microorganisms, suggesting that some might be protected from harsh conditions by their surrounding sample matrix.
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The study aimed to investigate the feasibility of attenuation imaging (ATI) measurements using a linear probe on healthy volunteers and compare measurements with the conventional convex probe. Attenuation imaging measurements of the liver tissue were taken using ultrasound with a convex and a linear probe in 33 volunteers by two examining doctors, and the measurements were repeated 4-5 weeks later by one of them. The ATI values for the linear probe were in the range of the values for the convex probe for both examiners.

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There is a long-standing debate in cognitive science surrounding the source of commonalities among languages of the world. Indeed, there are many potential explanations for such commonalities-accidents of history, common processes of language change, memory limitations, constraints on linguistic representations, and so on. Recent research has used psycholinguistic experiments to provide empirical evidence linking common linguistic patterns to specific features of human cognition, but these experiments tend to use English speakers, who in many cases have direct experience with the common patterns of interest.

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There have been studies showing attenuation imaging (ATI) with ultrasound as an approach to diagnose liver diseases such as steatosis or cirrhosis. So far, this technique has only been used on a convex probe. The goal of the study was to investigate the feasibility of ATI measurements using the linear array on a canon Aplio i800 scanner on certified phantoms.

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A cascade of three enzymes, E1-E2-E3, is responsible for transferring ubiquitin to target proteins, which controls many different aspects of cellular signaling. The role of the E2 has been largely overlooked, despite influencing substrate identity, chain multiplicity, and topology. Here we report a method-targeted charging of ubiquitin to E2 (tCUbE)-that can track a tagged ubiquitin through its entire enzymatic cascade in living mammalian cells.

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  • Eczema is a common skin condition typically treated with emollients and topical corticosteroids, but there is a growing interest in botanical therapies despite limited clinical evidence.
  • A randomized controlled trial (RCT) is being conducted to test the safety and effectiveness of a mānuka oil-based emollient cream (2% ECMT-154) for moderate to severe eczema, involving 118 participants in New Zealand who will apply the cream for six weeks.
  • The study's results will evaluate symptom improvement and treatment acceptability, with findings shared through publications and presentations if the therapy proves effective.
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Orofacial clefts of the lip and palate are widely recognized to result from complex gene-environment interactions, but inadequate understanding of environmental risk factors has stymied development of prevention strategies. We interrogated the role of DNA methylation, an environmentally malleable epigenetic mechanism, in orofacial development. Expression of the key DNA methyltransferase enzyme DNMT1 was detected throughout palate morphogenesis in the epithelium and underlying cranial neural crest cell (cNCC) mesenchyme, a highly proliferative multipotent stem cell population that forms orofacial connective tissue.

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Background & Aims: Chronic liver disease (CLD) causes 1.8% of all deaths in Europe, many of them from liver cancer. We estimated the impact of several policy interventions in France, the Netherlands, and Romania.

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Piperonyl butoxide (PBO) is a popular insecticide synergist present in thousands of commercial, agricultural, and household products. PBO inhibits cytochrome P450 activity, impairing the ability of insects to detoxify insecticides. PBO was recently discovered to also inhibit Sonic hedgehog signaling, a pathway required for embryonic development, and rodent studies have demonstrated the potential for PBO exposure to cause structural malformations of the brain, face, and limbs, or more subtle neurodevelopmental abnormalities.

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  • The study aimed to validate and update the Feverkids tool, a clinical prediction model designed to help differentiate between bacterial pneumonia, serious bacterial infections (SBIs), and non-SBI causes of fever in immunocompromised children.
  • Conducted in 15 hospitals across nine European countries, the study involved observational data from febrile immunocompromised children aged 0-18 years.
  • Results showed improved accuracy in predicting bacterial pneumonia and SBIs after model updates, indicating effective thresholds that can help minimize unnecessary medical interventions and antibiotic use.
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Background: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become a fundamental part of children's lives and development. However, children need to acquire the skills and knowledge to manage the risks that technology presents.

Objectives: This child-centric research on children's online experiences aims to understand the benefits Tunisian children derive from the internet, the risks and harms to which they are exposed, and how aware and resilient Tunisian children are to these online risks and harms.

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Optically anisotropic materials were produced via colloidal lithography and characterized using scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), confocal microscopy, and polarimetry. A compact hexagonal array mask composed of silica sub-micron particles was fabricated via the Langmuir-Blodgett self-assembly technique. Subsequently, the mask pattern was transferred onto monocrystalline silicon and commercial glass substrates using ion beam etching in a vacuum.

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N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) retinamide (4-HPR, or fenretinide) has promising in vitro and in vivo antiviral activity against a range of flaviviruses and an established safety record, but there are challenges to its clinical use. This study evaluated the in vivo exposure profile of a 4-HPR dosage regime previously shown to be effective in a mouse model of severe dengue virus (DENV) infection, comparing it to an existing formulation for human clinical use for other indications and developed/characterised self-emulsifying lipid-based formulations of 4-HPR to enhance 4-HPR in vivo exposure. Pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis comprising single-dose oral and IV plasma concentration-time profiles was performed in mice; equilibrium solubility testing of 4-HPR in a range of lipids, surfactants and cosolvents was used to inform formulation approaches, with lead formulation candidates digested in vitro to analyse solubilisation/precipitation prior to in vivo testing.

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This study explores the discrimination of Mandarin non-sibilant fricatives by bilingual speakers (N = 40) of Quanzhou Southern Min (L1) and Mandarin (L2) in different phonological contexts, including rounded vowels and the glide [w]. The results of the ABX discrimination task indicate significant contextual effects of the following sound, in line with predictions based on the Perceptual Assimilation model (PAM) [Best (1995). J.

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Objective: The aim of the work described here was to investigate the relative contribution of confounding factors on liver shear wave speed (SWS) and shear wave dispersion slope (SWDS) measurements in three certified phantoms using a Canon Aplio clinical ultrasound scanner.

Methods: A Canon Aplio i800 i-series ultrasound system (Canon Medical Systems Corporation, Otawara, Tochigi, Japan) with i8CX1 convex array (center frequency = 4 MHz) was used to examine dependencies caused by the depth, width and height of the acquisition box (AQB), the depth and size of the region of interest (ROI), the AQB angle and the pressure of the ultrasound probe on the surface of the phantom.

Results: Results revealed that depth is the most significant confounder in both SWS and SWDS measurements.

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Background: The relative contribution of environmental contaminants is an important, and frequently unanswered, question in human or ecological risk assessments. This interpretation of relative importance allows determination of the overall effect of a set of variables relative to other variables on an adverse health outcome. There are no underlying assumptions of independence of variables.

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Objectives: Measurement location and patient state can impact noninvasive liver assessment and change clinical staging in ultrasound examinations. Research into differences exists for Shear Wave Speed (SWS) and Attenuation Imaging (ATI), but not for Shear Wave Dispersion (SWD). The aim of this study is to assess the effect of breathing phase, liver lobe, and prandial state on SWS, SWD, and ATI ultrasound measurements.

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