Phenylpropanoid Metabolism in during Growth under Severe Drought.

Drought limits the growth and development of L. (known as common bean). Common bean plants contain various phenylpropanoids, but it is not known whether the levels of these metabolites are altered by drought.

The PARTNER trial of neoadjuvant olaparib with chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer.

PARTNER is a prospective, phase II-III, randomized controlled clinical trial that recruited patients with triple-negative breast cancer, who were germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 wild type. Here we report the results of the trial. Patients (n = 559) were randomized on a 1:1 basis to receive neoadjuvant carboplatin-paclitaxel with or without 150 mg olaparib twice daily, on days 3 to 14, of each of four cycles (gap schedule olaparib, research arm) followed by three cycles of anthracycline-based chemotherapy before surgery.

Accelerated versus standard epirubicin followed by cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil or capecitabine as adjuvant therapy for breast cancer (UK TACT2; CRUK/05/19): quality of life results from a multicentre, phase 3, open-label, randomised, controlled trial.

Background: Adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with early breast cancer improves outcomes but its toxicity affects patients' quality of life (QOL). The UK TACT2 trial investigated whether accelerated epirubicin improves time to recurrence and if oral capecitabine is non-inferior to cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) for efficacy with less toxicity. Results showed no benefit for accelerated epirubicin and capecitabine was non-inferior.

Genetic variation for effects of drought stress on yield formation traits among commercial soybean [ (L.) Merr.] cultivars adapted to Ontario, Canada.

Drought stress significantly limits soybean [ (L.) Merr.] yields in Ontario, Canada.

Magnetization transfer imaging of ovarian cancer: initial experiences of correlation with tissue cellularity and changes following neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between magnetization transfer (MT) imaging and tissue macromolecules in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) and whether MT ratio (MTR) changes following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT).

Methods: This was a prospective observational study. 12 HGSOC patients were imaged before treatment.

Multi-omic machine learning predictor of breast cancer therapy response.

Breast cancers are complex ecosystems of malignant cells and the tumour microenvironment. The composition of these tumour ecosystems and interactions within them contribute to responses to cytotoxic therapy. Efforts to build response predictors have not incorporated this knowledge.

Soil Water Deficit and Fertilizer Placement Effects on Root Biomass Distribution, Soil Water Extraction, Water Use, Yield, and Yield Components of Soybean [ (L.) Merr.] Grown in 1-m Rooting Columns.

Typical small-pot culture systems are not ideal for controlled environment phenotyping for drought tolerance, especially for root-related traits. We grew soybean plants in a greenhouse in 1-m rooting columns filled with amended field soil to test the effects of drought stress on water use, root growth, shoot growth, and yield components. There were three watering treatments, beginning at first flower: watered daily to 100% of the maximum soil water holding capacity (control), 75% (mild drought stress), or 50% (drought stress).

Application of Machine Learning Algorithms in Plant Breeding: Predicting Yield From Hyperspectral Reflectance in Soybean.

Recent substantial advances in high-throughput field phenotyping have provided plant breeders with affordable and efficient tools for evaluating a large number of genotypes for important agronomic traits at early growth stages. Nevertheless, the implementation of large datasets generated by high-throughput phenotyping tools such as hyperspectral reflectance in cultivar development programs is still challenging due to the essential need for intensive knowledge in computational and statistical analyses. In this study, the robustness of three common machine learning (ML) algorithms, multilayer perceptron (MLP), support vector machine (SVM), and random forest (RF), were evaluated for predicting soybean () seed yield using hyperspectral reflectance.

Weekly platinum-based chemotherapy versus 3-weekly platinum-based chemotherapy for newly diagnosed ovarian cancer (ICON8): quality-of-life results of a phase 3, randomised, controlled trial.

Background: The ICON8 study reported no significant improvement in progression-free survival (a primary endpoint) with weekly chemotherapy compared with standard 3-weekly treatment among patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. All ICON8 patients were eligible to take part in the accompanying health-related quality-of-life study, which measured the effect of treatment on self-reported wellbeing, reported here.

Methods: In this open-label, randomised, controlled, phase 3, three-arm, Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup (GCIG) trial done at 117 hospital sites in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, South Korea, and Republic of Ireland, women (aged at least 18 years) with newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IC-IV ovarian cancer and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-2 were randomly assigned (1:1:1) centrally using minimisation to group 1 (intravenous carboplatin area under the curve [AUC]5 or AUC6 and 175 mg/m intravenous paclitaxel every 3 weeks), group 2 (carboplatin AUC5 or AUC6 every 3 weeks and 80 mg/m paclitaxel weekly), or group 3 (carboplatin AUC2 weekly and 80 mg/m paclitaxel weekly).

A Physio-Morphological Trait-Based Approach for Breeding Drought Tolerant Wheat.

In the past, there have been drought events in different parts of the world, which have negatively influenced the productivity and production of various crops including wheat ( L.), one of the world's three important cereal crops. Breeding new high yielding drought-tolerant wheat varieties is a research priority specifically in regions where climate change is predicted to result in more drought conditions.

Effects of Growth Medium and Water Stress on Soybean [ (L.) Merr.] Growth, Soil Water Extraction and Rooting Profiles by Depth in 1-m Rooting Columns.

The pattern of soil water availability in frequently watered small pots is different from field environments. In small pots, volumetric soil water content (VSWC) is relatively high throughout the rooting zone due to a lack of suction to remove water from large and midsize capillaries. This necessitates the use of growing media with large pore space to avoid anaerobic conditions and so prohibits the use of field soil (FS) in small pots.

Baseline cardiovascular risk assessment in cancer patients scheduled to receive cardiotoxic cancer therapies: a position statement and new risk assessment tools from the Cardio-Oncology Study Group of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology in collaboration with the International Cardio-Oncology Society.

This position statement from the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology Cardio-Oncology Study Group in collaboration with the International Cardio-Oncology Society presents practical, easy-to-use and evidence-based risk stratification tools for oncologists, haemato-oncologists and cardiologists to use in their clinical practice to risk stratify oncology patients prior to receiving cancer therapies known to cause heart failure or other serious cardiovascular toxicities. Baseline risk stratification proformas are presented for oncology patients prior to receiving the following cancer therapies: anthracycline chemotherapy, HER2-targeted therapies such as trastuzumab, vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors, second and third generation multi-targeted kinase inhibitors for chronic myeloid leukaemia targeting BCR-ABL, multiple myeloma therapies (proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs), RAF and MEK inhibitors or androgen deprivation therapies. Applying these risk stratification proformas will allow clinicians to stratify cancer patients into low, medium, high and very high risk of cardiovascular complications prior to starting treatment, with the aim of improving personalised approaches to minimise the risk of cardiovascular toxicity from cancer therapies.

Strategies to Improve Recruitment to a De-escalation Trial: A Mixed-Methods Study of the OPTIMA Prelim Trial in Early Breast Cancer.

Aims: De-escalation trials are challenging and sometimes may fail due to poor recruitment. The OPTIMA Prelim randomised controlled trial (ISRCTN42400492) randomised patients with early stage breast cancer to chemotherapy versus 'test-directed' chemotherapy, with a possible outcome of no chemotherapy, which could confer less treatment relative to routine practice. Despite encountering challenges, OPTIMA Prelim reached its recruitment target ahead of schedule.

A network analysis to identify mediators of germline-driven differences in breast cancer prognosis.

Identifying the underlying genetic drivers of the heritability of breast cancer prognosis remains elusive. We adapt a network-based approach to handle underpowered complex datasets to provide new insights into the potential function of germline variants in breast cancer prognosis. This network-based analysis studies ~7.