Publications by authors named "BROCK M"

Background: Routine screening to detect silent but deadly cancers such as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) can significantly improve survival, creating an important need for a convenient screening test. High-resolution proton (1H) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of plasma identifies circulating metabolites that can allow detection of cancers such as PDAC that have highly dysregulated metabolism.

Methods: We first acquired 1H MR spectra of human plasma samples classified as normal, benign pancreatic disease and malignant (PDAC).

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  • Mitochondrial trifunctional protein deficiency is a disorder affecting long-chain fatty acid metabolism, leading to severe heart issues like cardiomyopathy and arrhythmias.
  • Triheptanoin, a synthetic medium-chain triglyceride, has shown potential to improve cardiomyopathy in some cases, although research is limited for severe presentations.
  • A case is presented of a newborn with severe disease who did not improve despite receiving mechanical support and triheptanoin treatment.
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  • * Bilateral CSD (BCSD) shows an approximate 60% reduction in implantable cardioverter defibrillator shocks and over 50% one-year survival without shock or transplant, while the 2017 guidelines endorse the left CSD for specific RVT types.
  • * Despite the promising results, many studies have small sample sizes leading to potential underreporting of complications; more research is needed to fully understand the long
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Objectives: The number of elderly people with stomach cancer is increasing; therefore, minimally invasive surgical treatments are required. Elderly patients have multiple comorbidities and are prone to postoperative weight loss, nutritional disorders, Postgastrectomy syndrome (PGS), and decreased quality of life (QOL). Total gastrectomy is particularly associated with these complications, although aboral-pouch creation reportedly improves the condition by compensating for lost reservoir capacity.

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  • A 12-week study showed that zilucoplan is effective in treating patients with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) who have acetylcholine receptor autoantibodies, but data beyond 12 weeks is limited.
  • The study used a Bayesian model-informed analysis to predict zilucoplan's effects versus a control for up to 24 weeks, incorporating real-world and clinical trial data.
  • Results showed significant improvement in the MG-ADL score for zilucoplan at 24 weeks, with a very high probability of a positive treatment effect compared to the control group.
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Seasonal and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) warming result in similar ocean changes as predicted with climate change. Climate-driven environmental cycles have strong impacts on microbiome diversity, but impacts on microbiome function are poorly understood. We quantified changes in microbial genomic diversity and functioning over 11 years covering seasonal and ENSO cycles at a coastal site in the southern California Current.

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We propose a scalable system of compact, superconducting neutron monitors, which can be embedded in any existing cryogenic infrastructure of a fusion system. The pixel-based nature of the detectors allows them to be placed at intervals following the circumference of a cooled zone, e.g.

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Early in the pandemic, clinicians recognized an overlap between Long COVID symptoms and dysautonomia, suggesting autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction. Our clinical experience at Johns Hopkins with primary dysautonomia suggested heritability of sympathetic dysfunction, manifesting primarily as hyperhidrosis and as other dysautonomia symptoms. Whole exome sequencing revealed mutations in genes regulating electrical signaling in the nervous system, thus providing a genetic basis for the sympathetic overdrive observed.

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  • Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common in veterans and is linked to various long-term sleep-wake disorders (SWD) that are not fully understood, which complicates diagnosis and treatment.
  • A literature review identified gaps in knowledge regarding the pathophysiology of TBI-related sleep issues, compared them with post-traumatic stress disorder sleep disturbances, and highlighted the importance of biomarkers and treatment strategies.
  • The conclusion stresses that a better understanding of the scientific basis for TBI and its impact on sleep is needed, focusing on biomarkers and neuroimaging to improve diagnosis and therapy in affected veterans.
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  • * A case study highlights a 45-year-old man with HIV/AIDS who experienced chest pain and low blood pressure during a vancomycin infusion, which resulted in a ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).
  • * After ceasing the vancomycin, the patient's ECG changes and symptoms resolved, with heart catheterization revealing normal coronary arteries.
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Background: Despite recent advances in lung cancer therapeutics and improving overall survival, disparities persist among socially disadvantaged populations. This study aims to determine the effects of neighborhood deprivation indices (NDI) on lung cancer mortality. This is a multicenter retrospective cohort study assessing the relationship between NDI and overall survival adjusted for age, disease stage, and DNA methylation among biopsy-proven lung cancer patients.

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: The standard of care for stage 1 NSCLC is upfront surgery followed by surveillance. However, 20-30% of stage 1 NSCLC recur. There is an unmet need to identify individuals likely to recur who would benefit from frequent monitoring and aggressive cancer treatments.

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  • The text discusses industrial biotechnology applications, focusing on the production of itaconic acid and bioactive metabolites from specific fungal species.
  • Draft genome sequences were presented for multiple species, revealing a rich diversity of secondary metabolism genes, particularly in one genus, which shows high potential for genome mining.
  • The study found unique strategies for UV protection among these species and highlighted their impressive ability to degrade plant polysaccharides, indicating further biotechnological uses.
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Objectives: To describe perfusionist perspectives regarding waste anesthetic gas (WAG) management during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and compare results to existing American Society of Extracorporeal Technology (AmSECT) guidelines and the 2016 National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Survey of healthcare workers and anesthesia care providers.

Design: We developed a questionnaire with 26 questions covering institutional demographics, use of anesthetic gases, scavenging systems, and air monitoring practices.

Setting: Web-based survey.

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Synthetic lethality is a novel model for cancer therapy. To understand the function and mechanism of BEN domain-containing protein 4 (BEND4) in pancreatic cancer, eight cell lines and a total of 492 cases of pancreatic neoplasia samples were included in this study. Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction, CRISPR/Cas9, immunoprecipitation assay, comet assay, and xenograft mouse model were used.

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Historically, our understanding of bacterial ecology in the Indian Ocean has been limited to regional studies that place emphasis on community structure and function within oxygen minimum zones. Thus, bacterial community dynamics across the wider Indian Ocean are largely undescribed. As part of Bio-GO-SHIP, we sequenced the 16S rRNA gene from 465 samples collected on sections I07N and I09N.

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  • Scientists are studying how to grow fungi, like Aspergillus niger, to create materials for construction, medicine, and fashion.
  • They found that adding special 'chemical foods' helps control how the fungus grows and shapes itself.
  • This research is a big step towards making strong and useful mats from fungus that can be changed for different needs!
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Soil microbial communities are fundamental to ecosystem processes and plant growth, yet community composition is seasonally and successionally dynamic, which interferes with long-term iterative experimentation of plant-microbe interactions. We explore how soil sample handling (e.g.

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  • Generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) is a chronic disease that significantly affects patients' quality of life and highlights the need for better treatments.
  • The ongoing phase III study evaluates the long-term safety and effectiveness of the drug zilucoplan in patients with acetylcholine receptor autoantibody-positive gMG.
  • Results from 200 patients showed that a significant majority experienced treatment-emergent adverse events, but those receiving zilucoplan showed continued improvements in daily living activities over 60 weeks, especially after switching from a placebo.
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Nitric Oxide (NO) is a naturally occurring modulator of inflammation found in the human body. Several studies in the pediatric cardiothoracic surgery literature have demonstrated some beneficial clinical effects when NO is added to the sweep gas of the cardiopulmonary bypass circuit. Our primary aim was to determine the safety of incorporating nitric oxide into the oxygenator sweep gas of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) circuit.

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Members of the lichen-forming fungal genus are known to occur in cold polar and high altitudinal environments. Two new species, and , are now described from the high altitude Deosai Plains, Pakistan, based on phenotypic, multigene phylogenetic and chemical evidence. Phenotypically, is characterised by orbicular light-brown thalli 1.

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Background: Medication non-adherence is common among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer and associated with poor health outcomes. AYAs with cancer endorse multiple barriers to adherence that differ across individuals, suggesting that tailoring intervention content to an AYA's specific barriers may have the potential to improve adherence. The purpose of this manuscript is to report on ORBIT-guided Phase I design efforts to create the first tailored adherence-promotion intervention for AYAs with cancer and the study protocol for the ongoing Phase II pilot feasibility trial.

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Inhibition of IL-4/IL-13 signaling has dramatically improved the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD). However, in many patients, clinical responses are slow to develop and remain modest. Indeed, some symptoms of AD are dependent on IL-31, which is only partially reduced by IL-4/IL-13 inhibition.

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Cancers of the same tissue-type but in anatomically distinct locations exhibit different molecular dependencies for tumorigenesis. Proximal and distal colon cancers exemplify such characteristics, with BRAF predominantly occurring in proximal colon cancers along with increased DNA methylation phenotype. Using mouse colon organoids, here we show that proximal and distal colon stem cells have distinct transcriptional programs that regulate stemness and differentiation.

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