In vivo performance of a visible wavelength optical sensor for monitoring intestinal perfusion and oxygenation.

Traumatic injury resulting in hemorrhage is a prevalent cause of death worldwide. The current standard of care for trauma patients is to restore hemostasis by controlling bleeding and administering intravenous volume resuscitation. Adequate resuscitation to restore tissue blood flow and oxygenation is critical within the first hours following admission to assess severity and avoid complications.

Trends in the timing of inpatient ERCP relative to cholecystectomy: a nationwide database studied longitudinally.

Background And Aims: ERCP has largely replaced common bile duct exploration for therapy of common bile duct pathology, yet its use as a purely diagnostic test has declined. Among inpatients, we hypothesized that timing between ERCP and cholecystectomy (CCY) has changed. The objectives were to measure temporal trends in the timing between inpatient ERCP and CCY and to examine factors associated with delays.

Risk factors associated with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis herd status in Québec dairy herds.

Paratuberculosis is a chronic and contagious enteric disease of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Control of paratuberculosis is justified given the associated economic losses and the potential role of MAP in Crohn's disease in humans.

A First-in-Human Phase I Study of OPB-111077, a Small-Molecule STAT3 and Oxidative Phosphorylation Inhibitor, in Patients with Advanced Cancers.

Lessons Learned: OPB-111077 is a novel inhibitor of STAT3 and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation that exhibited promising anticancer activity in preclinical models.In this first-in-human phase I study of OPB-111077 in unselected advanced cancers, treatment-emergent adverse events, most frequently nausea, fatigue, and vomiting, were generally mild to moderate in intensity and could be medically managed.Overall, only modest clinical activity was observed after OPB-111077 given as monotherapy.

Clinicopathologic characteristics of poorly differentiated chordoma.

Chordoma is a rare malignant tumor of bone with high morbidity and mortality. Recently, aggressive pediatric poorly differentiated chordoma with SMARCB1 loss has been described. This study summarizes the clinicopathologic features of poorly differentiated chordoma with SMARCB1 loss in the largest series to date.

Percutaneous transhepatic vs. endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage for suspected malignant hilar obstruction: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The optimal approach to the drainage of malignant obstruction at the liver hilum remains uncertain. We aim to compare percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) to endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) as the first intervention in patients with cholestasis due to suspected malignant hilar obstruction (MHO).

Methods: The INTERCPT trial is a multi-center, comparative effectiveness, randomized, superiority trial of PTBD vs.

Genetic and morphological support for possible sympatric origin of fish from subterranean habitats.

Two blind Iran cave barbs, Garra typhlops and Garra lorestanensis, exist in sympatry in a single subterranean habitat, raising the hypothesis that they may represent a case of sympatric speciation following a colonization event. Their different mental disc forms have prompted some authors to propose the alternative hypothesis of two separate colonization events. In this study, we analysed a genome-wide panel of 11,257 SNPs genotyped by means of genotyping-by-sequencing combined with mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase sub-unit I sequence data, field observations and morphological traits to test these two hypotheses.

Recontacting Patients with Updated Genetic Testing Recommendations for Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma and Pheochromocytoma or Paraganglioma.

Background: No guidelines exist regarding physicians' duty to inform former patients about novel genetic tests that may be medically beneficial. Research on the feasibility and efficacy of disseminating information and patient opinions on this topic is limited.

Methods: Adult patients treated at our institution from 1950 to 2010 for medullary thyroid cancer, pheochromocytoma, or paraganglioma were included if their history suggested being at-risk for a hereditary syndrome but genetic risk assessment would be incomplete by current standards.

Secondary Acute Leukemia in Sarcoma Patients: A Population-Based Study.

Purpose: To compare rates of secondary acute leukemia between sarcoma patients and the general population, using data from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry, and to examine whether various patient, tumor, and treatment factors were associated with development of a secondary acute leukemia.

Methods And Materials: Patients with a primary diagnosis of connective tissue malignancy between 1973 and 2008 in the SEER database were included. Multivariable competing risk analysis was used to determine risk factors associated with subsequent development of acute leukemia.

A Homozygous RET K666N Genotype With an MEN2A Phenotype.

Context: Germline RET K666N mutation has been described as a pathogenic mutation with low disease penetrance for medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) without other features of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A. We describe a patient with homozygous RET K666N mutation with MTC and bilateral pheochromocytoma (PHEO).

Case Description: A 59-year-old woman received a diagnosis of MTC after biopsy of two thyroid nodules.

Recent advances and emerging therapies in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma.

Anaplastic thyroid cancer is a rare and aggressive thyroid cancer with an overall survival measured in months. Because of this poor prognosis and often advanced age at presentation, these patients have traditionally been treated palliatively and referred for hospice. However, recent progress using novel therapies has energized the field, and several promising clinical trials are now available for these patients.

Development of a miRNA surface-enhanced Raman scattering assay using benchtop and handheld Raman systems.

DNA-functionalized nanoparticles, when paired with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), can rapidly detect microRNA. However, widespread use of this approach is hindered by drawbacks associated with large and expensive benchtop Raman microscopes. MicroRNA-17 (miRNA-17) has emerged as a potential epigenetic indicator of preeclampsia, a condition that occurs during pregnancy.

Foreign Body Reaction to a Subcutaneously Implanted Self-Cleaning, Thermoresponsive Hydrogel Membrane for Glucose Biosensors.

Towards achieveing a subcutaneously implanted glucose biosensor with long-term functionality, a thermoresponsive membrane previously shown to have potential to house a glucose sensing assay was evaluated herein for its ability to minimize the foriegn body reaction (FBR) and the resulting fibrous capsule. The severity of the FBR proportionally reduces diffusion of glucose to the sensor and hence sensor lifetime. However, efforts to reduce the FBR have largedly focused on anti-fouling materials that passively inhibit cellular attachment, particularly poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG).

Distinct pathological profiles of inmates showcasing cluster B personality traits, mental disorders and substance use regarding violent behaviors.

High rates of violence are found amid offenders with severe mental illnesses (SMI), substance use disorders (SUDs) and Cluster B personality disorders. Elevated rates of comorbidity lead to inconsistencies when it comes to this relationship. Furthermore, overlapping Cluster B personality traits have been associated with violence.

Contemporary Sarcoma Diagnosis, Genetics, and Genomics.

Sarcomas include diverse mesenchymal neoplasms with widely varied prognosis, clinical behavior, and treatment. Owing to their rarity and histologic overlap, accurate diagnosis of sarcomas can be challenging. Our approach has evolved dramatically in the past few decades, where novel insights into the molecular pathogenetic basis for sarcomas has dramatically (re)shaped contemporary diagnosis, building on a largely morphology- and clinical presentation-based strategy.

Collection Method of SERS Active Nanoparticles for Sensitive and Precise Measurements.

Developing surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) based biosensors requires not only synthesizing SERS active nanoparticles or nanoprobes that produce intense signal but also collecting them in a consistent manner to obtain sensitive and precise measurements. Nanoprobes are commonly measured in solution; however, this approach has several disadvantages that can reduce sensitivity, such as probing only a small percentage of the nanoprobes present in the sample. In this work, a novel collection device was designed, built, and tested which consistently concentrates nanoprobes in a specific area to yield highly sensitive (femtomolar) and repeatable measurements.

System matrix computation vs storage on GPU: A comparative study in cone beam CT.

Purpose: Iterative reconstruction algorithms in computed tomography (CT) require a fast method for computing the intersection distances between the trajectories of photons and the object, also called ray tracing or system matrix computation. This work focused on the thin-ray model is aimed at comparing different system matrix handling strategies using graphical processing units (GPUs).

Methods: In this work, the system matrix is modeled by thin rays intersecting a regular grid of box-shaped voxels, known to be an accurate representation of the forward projection operator in CT.

Incidence of fecal excretion of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in dairy cows before and after the enrolment in the Québec voluntary program.

Paratuberculosis is a chronic and contagious enteric disease of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). This disease of worldwide distribution is responsible for significant economic losses and the bacteria itself has been linked to human Crohn's disease.

Genotype-phenotype pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor relationship in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 patients: A 23-year experience at a single institution.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the genotype-phenotype relationship of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 treated at our institution.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of all patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 treated at our center from January 1993 to December 2015. Presence of a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor was determined based on imaging performed at any time from presentation to conclusion of follow-up.

Reduced Retinoblastoma Protein Expression Is Associated with Decreased Patient Survival in Medullary Thyroid Cancer.

Background: The retinoblastoma (RB) transcriptional corepressor 1 protein functions to slow cell-cycle progression. Inactivation of RB by reduced expression and/or hyperphosphorylation allow for enhanced progression through the cell cycle. Murine models develop medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) after generalized loss of RB.

Combined Targeted Therapy for -Mutant, Treatment-Related Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

A 44-year-old woman with a prior history of myxoid liposarcoma who was previously treated with radiation, chemotherapy, and resection, was admitted with syncope and pancytopenia. She was diagnosed with a high-grade therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome and treated with decitabine. Her disease soon progressed to overt acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Role of CDKN2C Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization in the Management of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), an aggressive form of thyroid cancer, occurs sporadically in approximately 75% of MTCs. and mutations play a role in about 40% and 15%, respectively, of sporadic MTCs and are predominant drivers in MTC pathways. These mutations are some of the most comprehensively described and screened for in MTC patients; however, in recent studies, other mutations in the gene (p18) have been implicated in the tumorigenesis of MTC.