Neoadjuvant Targeted Therapy in Resectable NSCLC: Current and Future Perspectives.

The standard of care (SoC) for medically operable patients with early-stage (stages I-IIIB) NSCLC is surgery combined with (neo)adjuvant systemic therapy for patients with stages II to IIIB disease and some stage IB or, rarely, chemoradiation (stage III disease with mediastinal lymph node metastases). Despite these treatments, metastatic recurrence is common and associated with poor survival, highlighting the need for systemic therapies that are more effective than the current SoC. After the success of targeted therapy (TT) in patients with advanced NSCLC harboring oncogenic drivers, these agents are being investigated for the perioperative (neoadjuvant and adjuvant) treatment of patients with early-stage NSCLC.

A Prospective Study Comparing the Infection Rate Between Buried vs Exposed Kirschner Wires in Hand and Wrist Fixations.

Introduction: Kirschner wires (K-wires) are used in fracture fixations but are often associated with pin tract infections. This prospective study compared the infection rate between buried and exposed K-wires in closed injuries of the wrist and hands in individuals with no comorbidities.

Methods: Fifteen patients were recruited with a total of 41 K-wires (21 buried K-wires; 20 exposed K-wires).

Characterization of a foldase, protein disulfide isomerase A, in the protein secretory pathway of Aspergillus niger.

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is important in assisting the folding and maturation of secretory proteins in eukaryotes. A gene, pdiA, encoding PDIA was previously isolated from Aspergillus niger, and we report its functional characterization here. Functional analysis of PDIA showed that it catalyzes the refolding of denatured and reduced RNase A.

Isolation and characterisation of a gene encoding protein disulphide isomerase, pdiA, from Aspergillus niger.

Current strategies to improve the secretion of heterologous proteins from Aspergillus niger include the manipulation of chaperones and foldases specific to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Here we report the isolation of a gene, pdiA, encoding a putative protein disulphide isomerase (PDI) from A. niger using the Saccharomyces cerevisiae PDI gene as a probe.

Hepatitis C virus genotypes in Singapore and Indonesia.

5' untranslated and partial core (C) region sequence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 21 Singaporean and 15 Indonesian isolates were amplified by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and sequenced with the use of conserved primer sequences deduced from HCV genomes identified in other geographical regions. The HCV genotypes are predominantly that of Simmonds type 1 and less of type 2 and 3 with the latter genotype currently not detected in Indonesia. The 5' untranslated sequences are related to HCV-1.