Publications by authors named "Armstrong T"
Erratum to: Gondi V, Deshmukh S, Brown PD, et al. Sustained Preservation of Cognition and Prevention of Patient-Reported Symptoms With Hippocampal Avoidance During Whole-Brain Radiation Therapy for Brain Metastases: Final Results of NRG Oncology CC001. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023;117:571-580.
Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys
February 2025
Context: A patient-centered care (PCC) environment allows athletic trainers (ATs) to develop trusting relationships with patients, enabling them to make the most informed care decisions. To provide PCC, the AT should assess health literacy and deliver quality patient education.
Objective: To explore the lived experiences of ATs from different job settings to identify how they deliver PCC specific to health literacy and patient education.
Article Synopsis
- Glioblastoma (GBM) is a severe brain cancer that can lead to toxic side effects during treatment, prompting this study to explore genetic and clinical factors associated with vascular toxicities such as thrombosis and hypertension in patients.
- A total of 591 Non-Hispanic White GBM patients were analyzed, with 62 experiencing thrombosis and 59 hypertension, revealing that hypertensive patients had improved survival rates compared to those without hypertension.
- The study found that genetic factors significantly predicted hypertension better than clinical data alone, while corticosteroid use was identified as a notable risk factor for thrombosis, suggesting a need for further research into these associations in cancer treatments.
Patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) experience a wide range of symptoms due both to their underlying disease and the effects of treatment. Designing early phase trials to explore effective therapies in these patients should not only examine anti-tumor activity, but also consider the effects of treatments on how patients feel and function. Assessing symptomatic toxicities associated with new therapies in early phase trials from the patient perspective is best measured using patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and offers valuable insight and complementary information to the traditional adverse event reporting in cancer clinical trials.
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- Effective gambling messages should focus on reducing time and money spent on gambling to minimize related harm, but research on their effectiveness is limited, especially concerning sports and race betting.
- In a study involving 2,074 participants, two types of messages were tested (positive-emotional and norm-based) against a generic control message, but no significant differences were found in gambling behaviors or reported harms.
- Despite the lack of differences between message types, participants showed a general decrease in gambling activities over five weeks, suggesting the study prompted self-reflection on gambling rather than the messages themselves.
Article Synopsis
- Radiation therapy is a common treatment for primary brain tumors, but it may lead to significant sleep disorders that haven't been fully explored.
- A systematic review analyzed 38 studies involving nearly 2,948 patients, finding a high incidence of sleep disturbances particularly from the end of radiation to six months afterward, linked to radiation dosage.
- The review calls for more research on sleep disorders in patients with primary brain tumors and suggests that pharmacological interventions can help manage sleep symptoms, despite inconsistencies in how these symptoms are reported across studies.
Environmental and Genetic Contributions to Attachment in Late Adolescence and Young Adulthood.
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev
October 2024
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked with attachment insecurity and psychopathology. However, some individuals remain securely attached and resilient following ACEs. Researchers have examined polymorphisms in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR), particularly rs53576, as a source of resilience, though examination of the biological mechanism by which rs53576 buffers the relation that would otherwise exist between ACEs and attachment insecurity is absent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The insulin receptor (IR) and insulin like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) are heterodimers consisting of two extracellular α-subunits and two transmembrane β -subunits. Insulin αβ and insulin like growth factor-1 αβ hemi-receptors can heterodimerize to form hybrids composed of one IR αβ and one IGF-1R αβ. The function of hybrids in the endothelium is unclear.
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- Researchers studied how different cancer patients experience symptoms in different ways!
- They looked at data from over 3,000 patients to find patterns in symptoms and created groups based on shared experiences!
- They discovered three main symptom clusters and found that lack of energy was really important for all patients, but different groups had different symptoms that needed more attention!
Article Synopsis
- - The systematic review highlights that mind-body, cognitive-behavioral, and physical activity interventions can potentially benefit brain tumor patients, but these strategies are not widely used in neuro-oncology.
- - Out of 29 studies reviewed, mind-body and physical activities showed promising results in improving mood, quality of life, and physical functioning, while cognitive-behavioral interventions had mixed results due to insufficient study power.
- - The review calls for more robust clinical trials to better confirm the effectiveness of these interventions for both physical and psychological health in brain tumor patients.
Background: Both exposure to air pollutants and obesity are associated with increased incidence and severity of COVID-19 infection; however, the mechanistic pathways involved are not well-characterized. After being primed by the transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) or furin protease, SARS-CoV-2 uses the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-2 receptor to enter respiratory epithelial cells. The androgen receptor (AR) is known to regulate both TMPRSS2 and ACE2 expression, and neuropilin-1 (NRP1) is a proposed coreceptor for SARS-CoV-2; thus, altered expression of these factors may promote susceptibility to infection.
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- We evaluated the extent of oncology clinical trial infrastructure in the US, focusing on neuro-oncology while also considering its broader implications for cancer research and care.
- * Over 57% of the US population does not have direct access to this trial-supporting infrastructure, with a significant concentration in urban and socioeconomically privileged areas.
- * Our findings highlight the disparities in access to oncology care and propose strategies to enhance the infrastructure's reach to underserved populations.*
Article Synopsis
- Sleep-wake disturbances are prevalent among primary brain tumor patients, and this study explores the relationship between patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and data from smart wearables like Fitbits over a 4-week period.
- Fifty-four patients participated, wearing Fitbits to track their sleep patterns and completing various PROs at the start and end of the study, showing high compliance and reliability in the data collected.
- Results indicated that while some patients experienced significant improvements in sleep disturbance, a notable correlation was found between wake after sleep onset and sleep disturbance, highlighting a need for further research into sleep mechanics in this patient population.
Context: Type 1 diabetes incidence continues to increase in children, especially among Hispanic Whites (HW).
Objective: We investigated the clinical, immunologic, and genetic characteristics of HW and Non-Hispanic White (NHW) children that presented at type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
Methods: In this single-center, observational study, children who were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (<20 years old) and tested for islet autoantibodies within 1 year of diagnosis were included in the study and divided into two groups by Hispanic ethnicity.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how exposure therapy in different contexts (multiple-context) and with various stimuli (multiple-stimulus) affects fear reduction in individuals with snake phobia.
- Participants were randomly assigned to three groups: exposure to a single snake in various settings, multiple snakes in one setting, or multiple snakes in various settings, and their responses were examined through measures of threat expectancy, anxiety, and attention bias.
- Results showed overall reductions in fear but highlighted that the multiple-context approach led to lower threat expectancy after a week, suggesting it may be more effective in certain aspects of fear reduction.
Article Synopsis
- The study looked at how levels of testosterone and cortisol hormones connect to traits of psychopathy in university students.
- Researchers found that higher levels of cortisol in the morning were linked to lower psychopathy scores, but this connection didn't show up in the afternoon.
- The researchers did not find any significant effects based on the participants' sex or interactions between the hormone levels themselves.
Background: Ependymoma (EPN) is not a uniform disease but represents different disease types with biological and clinical heterogeneity. However, the pattern of when and where different types of EPN relapse is not yet comprehensively described.
Methods: We assembled 269 relapsed intracranial EPN from pediatric (n = 233) and adult (n = 36) patients from European and Northern American cohorts and correlated DNA methylation patterns and copy-number alterations with clinical information.
Nucleation and growth of calcium carbonate on surfaces is of broad importance in nature and technology, being essential to the calcification of organisms, while negatively impacting energy conversion through crystallization fouling, also called scale formation. Previous work studied how confinements, surface energies, and functionalizations affect nucleation and polymorph formation, with surface-water interactions and ion mobility playing important roles. However, the influence of surface nanostructures with nanocurvature-through pit and bump morphologies-on scale formation is unknown, limiting the development of scalephobic surfaces.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrecise micropatterning on three-dimensional (3D) surfaces is desired for a variety of applications, from microelectronics to metamaterials, which can be realized by transfer printing techniques. However, a nontrivial deficiency of this approach is that the transferred microstructures are adsorbed on the target surface with weak adhesion, limiting the applications to external force-free conditions. We propose a scalable "photolithography-transfer-plating" method to pattern stable and durable microstructures on 3D metallic surfaces with precise dimension and location control of the micropatterns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Guidelines now recommend universal germline genetic testing (GGT) for all pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. Testing provides information on actionable pathogenic variants and guides management of patients and family. Since traditional genetic counseling (GC) models are time-intensive and GC resources are sparse, new approaches are needed to comply with guidelines without overwhelming available resources.
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- Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a deadly cancer that resists immunotherapy, largely due to an immunosuppressive environment created by myeloid cells.
- A combination of the PDE5 inhibitor tadalafil with a specific vaccine and immune checkpoint inhibitors shows promise in enhancing the immune response against PDAC, even in cases previously deemed immune-resistant.
- Tadalafil helps reprogram myeloid cells to reduce their suppression of T cells, leading to improved T cell activation and pro-inflammatory signaling, which boosts anti-tumor effects.
Article Synopsis
- * A web-based study involving 158 adult patients revealed that low self-efficacy levels were linked to longer symptom durations before surgery and were influenced by factors such as gender and education.
- * The study found that individuals with lower self-efficacy experienced more severe mood-related issues, highlighting the need for tailored interventions to improve self-efficacy in cancer care.
Article Synopsis
- - Burnout in the medical field is linked to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a decreased sense of achievement, and younger professionals are particularly at risk; this study focused on SNO Young Investigators to better understand their experiences.
- - An anonymous survey was conducted in 2019 among eligible SNO members, gathering data on their characteristics and using the Maslach Burnout Inventory to assess burnout levels, with analysis including various statistical methods.
- - The results showed that YI members reported higher levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than the general population, with 30% classified as overextended and 15% experiencing burnout; stress was largely attributed to organizational challenges, indicating a need for systemic interventions.
Article Synopsis
- Bubbles and foams are typically removed using chemical defoamers or mechanical methods, but designing surfaces for bubble capture without chemicals is preferable in industries like wastewater treatment and electrolysis.
- Super-liquid-repellent surfaces create plastrons, which help in capturing bubbles through coalescence, though the precise mechanics behind this process remain unclear.
- The study reveals that smaller surface features speed up bubble rupture, while larger gas fractions enhance bubble absorption, highlighting the importance of optimizing both surface designs and interactions for effective bubble management.