Harmful algal blooms in Cayuga lake, NY: From microbiome analysis to eDNA monitoring.

The global increase in harmful algal blooms (HABs) has become a growing concern over the years, and New York State (NYS) is no exception. The Finger Lakes region in NYS has been identified as a hotspot for HABs, with Cayuga Lake having the highest number of blooms reported. The Cayuga Lake HABs Monitoring Program has been tracking cHABs (dominant bloom taxa, chlorophyll A, and microcystin levels) since 2018.

Physiotherapy postgraduate studies in South Africa: Facilitators and barriers.

Aim: To investigate the facilitators and barriers to attaining a postgraduate physiotherapy degree in South Africa.

Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional design using an internet-based survey was employed. The population of the study included all qualified physiotherapists who had completed community service and who were on the South African Society of Physiotherapy e-mailing list at the time of the study.

Tuning Azoheteroarene Photoswitch Performance through Heteroaryl Design.

Photoswitchable compounds, which can be reversibly switched between two isomers by light, continue to attract significant attention for a wide array of applications. Azoheteroarenes represent a relatively new but understudied type of photoswitch, where one of the aryl rings from the conventional azobenzene class has been replaced with a five-membered heteroaromatic ring. Initial studies have suggested the azoheteroarenes-the arylazopyrazoles in particular-to have excellent photoswitching properties (quantitative switching and long Z isomer half-life).

Toward Photopharmacological Antimicrobial Chemotherapy Using Photoswitchable Amidohydrolase Inhibitors.

Photopharmacological agents exhibit light-dependent biological activity and may have potential in the development of new antimicrobial agents/modalities. Amidohydrolase enzymes homologous to the well-known human histone deacetylases (HDACs) are present in bacteria, including resistant organisms responsible for a significant number of hospital-acquired infections and deaths. We report photopharmacological inhibitors of these enzymes, using two classes of photoswitches embedded in the inhibitor pharmacophore: azobenzenes and arylazopyrazoles.

Photoswitchable basicity through the use of azoheteroarenes.

Azoheteroarene photoswitches offer functional advantages over their more conventional azobenzene counterparts by virtue of their heteroaromatic ring(s). Here we report that azobis(2-imidazole) functions as a photoswitchable base due to the additional proton stabilisation that is possible in the protonated Z isomer, facilitated by the basic imidazole nitrogens. This thermodynamic difference in stability corresponds to a 1.

Dual wavelength asymmetric photochemical synthesis with circularly polarized light.

Asymmetric photochemical synthesis using circularly polarized (CP) light is theoretically attractive as a means of absolute asymmetric synthesis and postulated as an explanation for homochirality on Earth. Using an asymmetric photochemical synthesis of a dihydrohelicene as an example, we demonstrate the principle that two wavelengths of CP light can be used to control separate reactions. In doing so, a photostationary state (PSS) is set up in such a way that the enantiomeric induction intrinsic to each step can combine additively, significantly increasing the asymmetric induction possible in these reactions.

Registered report: senescence surveillance of pre-malignant hepatocytes limits liver cancer development.

The Kang et al. (2011), published in Nature in 2011. The experiments that will be replicated are those reported in Figures 3B, 3C, 3E, and 4A.

Arylazopyrazoles: azoheteroarene photoswitches offering quantitative isomerization and long thermal half-lives.

Arylazopyrazoles, a novel class of five-membered azo photoswitches, offer quantitative photoswitching and high thermal stability of the Z isomer (half-lives of 10 and ∼1000 days). The conformation of the Z isomers of these compounds, and also the arylazopyrroles, is highly dependent on the substitution pattern on the heteroarene, allowing a twisted or planar geometry, which in turn has a significant impact on the electronic spectral properties of the compounds.

Delay between symptom onset and clinic attendance following TIA and minor stroke: the BEATS study.

Background: rapid specialist assessment of patients with transient ischaemic attack (TIA) reduces the risk of recurrent stroke. National guidelines advise that high-risk patients are assessed within 24 h and low-risk patients within 7 days.

Aim: to quantify delay and map pathways taken by patients from symptom onset to specialist assessment.

Joint prevalence of diabetes, impaired glucose regulation, cardiovascular disease risk and chronic kidney disease in South Asians and White Europeans.

Background: Multiple vascular risk factors may confer very high risk, but the degree of commonality between risk factors is unclear, particularly among ethnic minorities. Furthermore, it is unknown what impact this commonality will have on the UK-based NHS Health Check Programme; a vascular disease prevention programme that screens individuals aged 40-74 years. We estimated the joint prevalence of diabetes, impaired glucose regulation (IGR), high cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and chronic kidney disease (CKD) among White Europeans and South Asians who would be eligible for the Programme.

Primary follicular lymphoma of the testis in children and adolescents.

This study reports 6 cases of primary follicular lymphoma of the testis (PFLT) in children and adolescents correlated with clinical presentation, pathologic features, treatment, and outcome. All 6 patients (age, 3 to 16 y; median, 4 y) had PFLT grade 3 with disease limited to the testis, completely resected and treated with 2 courses of chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, doxorubicin). Event-free survival was 100% (follow-up: median, 73 mo; mean, 53 mo; range, 6 to 96 mo).

Use of outcomes in monitoring healthcare - how many outcome measures are needed in monitoring diabetes in primary care?

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between patient experience assessed through surveys of random samples of practice populations and intermediate outcome targets in those patients with diabetes, collected in the Quality and Outcomes Framework pay-for-performance scheme.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: The East Midlands region of England.

Inequalities in health expectancies at older ages in the European Union: findings from the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).

Background: Life expectancy gaps between Eastern and Western Europe are well reported with even larger variations in healthy life years (HLY).

Aims: To compare European countries with respect to a wide range of health expectancies based on more specific measures that cover the disablement process in order to better understand previous inequalities.

Methods: Health expectancies at age 50 by gender and country using Sullivan's method were calculated from the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe Wave 2, conducted in 2006 in 13 countries, including two from Eastern Europe (Poland, the Czech Republic).

Role of JNK in a Trp53-dependent mouse model of breast cancer.

The cJun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) signal transduction pathway has been implicated in mammary carcinogenesis. To test the role of JNK, we examined the effect of ablation of the Jnk1 and Jnk2 genes in a Trp53-dependent model of breast cancer using BALB/c mice. We detected no defects in mammary gland development in virgin mice or during lactation and involution in control studies of Jnk1(-/-) and Jnk2(-/-) mice.

Impact of radiotherapy parameters on outcome for patients with supratentorial primitive neuro-ectodermal tumours entered into the SIOP/UKCCSG PNET 3 study.

Background And Purpose: To evaluate the impact of radiotherapy (RT) parameters on outcome in the SIOP/UKCCSG study of pre-RT chemotherapy for Supratentorial Primitive Neuro-ectodermal Tumours.

Methods And Materials: Sixty-two patients aged 2.9-16.

Excellent survival following two courses of COPAD chemotherapy in children and adolescents with resected localized B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: results of the FAB/LMB 96 international study.

High cure rates are possible in children with localized mature B-cell lymphoma (B NHL) using a variety of chemotherapeutic strategies. To reduce late sequelae, the duration and intensity of chemotherapy has been progressively reduced. The Lymphome Malins de Burkitt (LMB) 89 study reported long-term survival in almost all children with localized resected disease treated with two courses of COPAD (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisolone and doxorubicin).

Primary postoperative chemotherapy without radiotherapy for intracranial ependymoma in children: the UKCCSG/SIOP prospective study.

Background: Over half of childhood intracranial ependymomas occur in children younger than 5 years. As an adjuvant treatment, radiotherapy can be effective, but has the potential to damage the child's developing nervous system at a crucial time-with a resultant reduction in IQ and cognitive impairment, endocrinopathy, and risk of second malignancy. We aimed to assess the role of a primary chemotherapy strategy in avoiding or delaying radiotherapy in children younger than 3 years with intracranial ependymoma.

Nodule formation and desmoplasia in medulloblastomas-defining the nodular/desmoplastic variant and its biological behavior.

Among the variants of medulloblastoma in the current WHO classification of nervous system tumors, the desmoplastic variant, which has been reported to constitute 5%-25% of pediatric medulloblastomas, is defined by its nodular collections of neurocytic cells bounded by desmoplastic internodular zones. We have studied the frequency, morphological features and biological behavior of medulloblastomas in two contemporaneous SIOP/UKCCSG trial cohorts of children with medulloblastomas, CNS9102 (n = 315) and CNS9204 (n = 35), focusing on tumors with nodular and desmoplastic phenotypes. In children aged 3-16 years (CNS9102), the nodular/desmoplastic medulloblastoma represented 5% of all tumors, while in infants aged <3 years (CNS9204) this variant represented 57% of medulloblastomas.

Long-term outcome in children with Hodgkin's lymphoma: the United Kingdom Children's Cancer Study Group HD82 trial.

Background: The aim of United Kingdom Children's Cancer Study Group (UKCCSG) HD82 was to establish the efficacy of chlorambucil/vinblastine/procarbazine/prednisolone (ChlVPP) in the treatment of childhood Hodgkin's lymphoma stages II-IV and radiotherapy (RT) alone in stage I patients. We report on the status of these patients to a follow-up of 20 years.

Methods: Treatment consisted of 35Gy involved-field RT for stage I and ChlVPP alone for stages II-IV.

The JNK signal transduction pathway.

The c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinases (JNKs) are an evolutionarily conserved sub-group of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases. Recent studies have improved our understanding of the physiological function of the JNK pathway. Roles of novel molecules that participate in the JNK pathway have been defined and new insight into the role of JNK in survival signaling, cell death, cancer and diabetes has been achieved.

Results of a randomized international study of high-risk central nervous system B non-Hodgkin lymphoma and B acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children and adolescents.

The prognosis for higher risk childhood B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma has improved over the past 20 years but the optimal intensity of treatment has yet to be determined. Children 21 years old or younger with newly diagnosed B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma/B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-NHL/B-ALL) with higher risk factors (bone marrow [BM] with or without CNS involvement) were randomized to standard intensity French-American-British/Lymphoma Malignancy B (FAB/LMB) therapy or reduced intensity (reduced cytarabine plus etoposide and deletion of 3 maintenance courses M2, M3, M4). All patients with CNS disease had additional high-dose methotrexate (8 g/m2) plus extra intrathecal therapy.

Results of the randomized international FAB/LMB96 trial for intermediate risk B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in children and adolescents: it is possible to reduce treatment for the early responding patients.

A previous study (LMB89) of the French Society of Pediatric Oncology for childhood mature B-cell lymphoma (B-NHL) demonstrated a 92% 3-year event-free survival (EFS) for intermediate-risk group B defined as "non-resected" stage II/I and CNS-negative advanced-stage IIV/IV (70% of cases). We performed the FAB/LMB96 trial to assess the possibility of reducing treatment in children/adolescents with intermediate-risk B-NHL without jeopardizing survival. "Early responding" patients (tumor response > 20% at day 7) were randomized in a factorial design between 4 arms, 2 receiving half-dose of cyclophosphamide in the second induction course with cyclophosphamide, Oncovin (vincristine), prednisone, Adriamycin (doxorubicin), methotrexate (COPADM) and 2 not receiving the maintenance course M1.

Estimating and modeling the cure fraction in population-based cancer survival analysis.

In population-based cancer studies, cure is said to occur when the mortality (hazard) rate in the diseased group of individuals returns to the same level as that expected in the general population. The cure fraction (the proportion of patients cured of disease) is of interest to patients and is a useful measure to monitor trends in survival of curable disease. There are 2 main types of cure fraction model, the mixture cure fraction model and the non-mixture cure fraction model, with most previous work concentrating on the mixture cure fraction model.