An electronic health record cohort of Veterans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

To assemble and characterize an electronic health record (EHR) dataset for a large cohort of US military Veterans diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). An EHR dataset for 19,662 Veterans diagnosed with ALS between January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2020 was compiled from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) EHR database by a query for ICD9 diagnosis (335.20) or ICD10 diagnosis (G12.

COVID-19 outcomes in patients with cancer: Findings from the University of California health system database.

Background: The interaction between cancer diagnoses and COVID-19 infection and outcomes is unclear. We leveraged a state-wide, multi-institutional database to assess cancer-related risk factors for poor COVID-19 outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the University of California Health COVID Research Dataset, which includes electronic health data of patients tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) at 17 California medical centers.

AI Meets Exascale Computing: Advancing Cancer Research With Large-Scale High Performance Computing.

The application of data science in cancer research has been boosted by major advances in three primary areas: (1) Data: diversity, amount, and availability of biomedical data; (2) Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms that enable learning from complex, large-scale data; and (3) Advances in computer architectures allowing unprecedented acceleration of simulation and machine learning algorithms. These advances help build ML models that can provide transformative insights from data including: molecular dynamics simulations, next-generation sequencing, omics, imaging, and unstructured clinical text documents. Unique challenges persist, however, in building ML models related to cancer, including: (1) access, sharing, labeling, and integration of multimodal and multi-institutional data across different cancer types; (2) developing AI models for cancer research capable of scaling on next generation high performance computers; and (3) assessing robustness and reliability in the AI models.

Investigating drug induced changes in single, living lymphocytes based on Raman micro-spectroscopy.

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool for label-free, single cell characterization. In many reported studies, a Raman spectrum is acquired from a fraction of the cell volume and used as a representative signature of the whole cell to identify and discriminate between cell populations. It has remained an open question whether this is the most suitable approach since the spectra may not truly represent the cell as a whole and critical biochemical information could therefore be lost.

In vivo stability and photodynamic efficacy of fluorinated bacteriopurpurinimides derived from bacteriochlorophyll-a.

The stable bacteriopurpurinimide (788 nm, epsilon: 38,600 in CH2Cl2), obtained by reducing the corresponding unstable Schiff base (803 nm, epsilon: 50,900 in CH2Cl2) that was isolated by reacting bacteriopurpurin methyl ester with 3,5-bis-(trifluoromethyl)benzylamine, produced promising photosensitizing efficacy. 1H NMR, mass spectrometry, and HPLC analyses confirmed the structures of new bacteriopurpurinimides and the metabolic product. The preliminary in vivo photosensitizing efficacy of this stable bacteriopurpurinimide was determined in C3H mice bearing radiation induced fibrosarcoma tumors as a function of variable drug doses.

Multimodality agents for tumor imaging (PET, fluorescence) and photodynamic therapy. A possible "see and treat" approach.

Methyl 3-(1'-m-iodobenzyloxyethyl)-3-devinylpyropheophorbide-a (2), obtained in a sequence of reactions from pyropheophorbide-a (a chlorophyll-a derivative), was found to be a promising imaging agent and a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT). The electrophilic aromatic iodination of the corresponding trimethylstannyl intermediate with Na124I in the presence of an Iodogen bead afforded 124I-labeled photosensitizer 4 with >95% radioactive specificity. In addition to drug-uptake, the light fluence and fluence rate that were used for the light treatment had a significant impact in long-term tumor cure.

A first comparative study of purpurinimide-based fluorinated vs. nonfluorinated photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy.

A first report on the synthesis and comparative in vitro-in vivo photosensitizing efficacy of various fluorinated and the corresponding nonfluorinated, purpurinimide-based photosensitizers is discussed. In preliminary in vivo screening, compared with the nonfluorinated analogs, purpurinimides bearing trifluoromethyl substituents showed enhanced photosensitizing efficacy. Among compounds (isomers) with similar lipophilicity, the position of the substituents was found to play a decisive role in biological efficacy.