Added value of apparent diffusion coefficient in distinguishing between serous and mucin-producing pancreatic cystic neoplasms.

Objectives: To evaluate the added value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) on MRI in differentiating serous from mucin-producing pancreatic cystic neoplasms (PCNs).

Methods: One hundred seventeen patients with PCN measuring ≥ 10 mm were included. Three readers independently evaluated MRI with and without the use of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC).

Signal removal methods for highly multiplexed immunofluorescent staining using antibody conjugated oligonucleotides.

Successful cancer treatment continues to elude modern medicine and its arsenal of therapeutic strategies. Therapy resistance is driven by significant tumor heterogeneity, complex interactions between malignant, microenvironmental and immune cells and cross talk between signaling pathways. Advances in molecular characterization technologies such as next generation sequencing have helped unravel this network of interactions and have vastly affected how cancer is diagnosed and treated.

Building a Bridge to the Community: An Integrated Knowledge Translation Approach to Improving Participation in Community-Based Exercise for People After Stroke.

Background: People who have had a stroke and are living in the community have low levels of physical activity, which reduces their functional capacity and increases risks of developing secondary comorbid conditions. Exercise delivered in community centers can address these low levels of physical activity; however, implementing evidence-based programs to meet the needs of all community stakeholders is challenging.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine implementation factors to facilitate participation in relevant exercise and physical activity for people with chronic health conditions, like stroke.

Exploring perceptions of stroke survivors and caregivers about secondary prevention: a longitudinal qualitative study.

: To explore the changes in perceived barriers and facilitators associated with participation in secondary prevention activities of stroke survivors and their caregivers over the early stroke recovery period.: We conducted two individual interviews (at 2 weeks and 6 months post-discharge) with stroke survivors and their family members. Using purposive sampling, participants were recruited from the stroke units of two acute care hospitals.

Effects of exercise interventions on cardiovascular health in individuals with chronic, motor complete spinal cord injury: protocol for a randomised controlled trial [Cardiovascular Health/Outcomes: Improvements Created by Exercise and education in SCI (CHOICES) Study].

Introduction: Recent studies demonstrate that cardiovascular diseases and associated complications are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Abnormal arterial stiffness, defined by a carotid-to-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) ≥10 m/s, is a recognised risk factor for heart disease in individuals with SCI. There is a paucity of studies assessing the efficacy of conventional training modalities on arterial stiffness and other cardiovascular outcomes in this population.

Tools for 3D Interactome Visualization.

In cells, intra- and intermolecular interactions of proteins confer function, and the dynamic modulation of this interactome is critical to meet the changing needs required to support life. Cross-linking and mass spectrometry (XL-MS) enable the detection of both intra- and intermolecular protein interactions in organelles, cells, tissues, and organs. Quantitative XL-MS enables the detection of interactome changes in cells due to environmental, phenotypic, pharmacological, or genetic perturbations.

Influence of Peer-led Wheelchair Training on Wheelchair Skills and Participation in Older Adults: Clinical Outcomes of a Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial.

Objective: To estimate treatment effect size of a peer-led Wheelchair Self-Efficacy Enhanced for Use (WheelSeeU) program on objective wheelchair skills (primary); and on perceived wheelchair skills capacity and performance, wheelchair use self-efficacy, satisfaction with participation, life-space mobility, and participation frequency (secondary); and to evaluate retention 6 months later (secondary).

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Rehabilitation centers and communities.

Diagnosis of Knee Meniscal Injuries by Using Three-dimensional MRI: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Performance.

Purpose To investigate the diagnostic performance of three-dimensional (3D) MRI for depicting meniscal injuries of the knee by using surgery as the standard of reference. Materials and Methods A literature search was performed to identify original studies published between 1985 and 2017. Summary receiver operating characteristic curve and sensitivity analyses were performed to compare the diagnostic performance of 3D versus two-dimensional (2D) MRI for the assessment of knee meniscal injuries and to evaluate the impact of relevant covariates on the diagnostic performance for assessment of knee meniscal injuries.

Bifunctional Immunity Proteins Protect Bacteria against FtsZ-Targeting ADP-Ribosylating Toxins.

ADP-ribosylation of proteins can profoundly impact their function and serves as an effective mechanism by which bacterial toxins impair eukaryotic cell processes. Here, we report the discovery that bacteria also employ ADP-ribosylating toxins against each other during interspecies competition. We demonstrate that one such toxin from Serratia proteamaculans interrupts the division of competing cells by modifying the essential bacterial tubulin-like protein, FtsZ, adjacent to its protomer interface, blocking its capacity to polymerize.

The Efficacy of Lower Extremity Mirror Therapy for Improving Balance, Gait, and Motor Function Poststroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Mirror therapy is less commonly used to target the lower extremity after stroke to improve outcomes but is simple to perform. This review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy of lower extremity mirror therapy in improving balance, gait, and motor function for individuals with stroke.

Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, and PsychINFO were searched from inception to May 2018 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing lower extremity mirror therapy to a control intervention for people with stroke.

Decreased white matter fractional anisotropy is associated with poorer functional motor skills following spinal cord injury: a pilot study.

Study Design: Prospective cross-sectional study OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to assess associations between white matter changes and functional motor markers including grip strength and prehension in the upper limb.

Setting: Single Center Imaging Study, in Vancouver Canada.

Methods: Diffusion tensor imaging produced FA (Fractional Anisotropy) maps of the brain for participants with SCI (n = 7) and controls (n = 6).

Epicardial Fat Distribution Assessed with Cardiac CT in Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia/Cardiomyopathy.

Purpose To compare epicardial fat in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) with that in healthy subjects. Materials and Methods In this retrospective study, cardiac CT scans in 44 patients with ARVD/C (mean age, 39 years ± 12; 23 men) were compared with those in 45 control group participants between January 2008 and July 2015. Volumes of intrathoracic adipose tissue, mediastinal adipose tissue (MAT), and total epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) were quantified.

Clinical outcomes of patients with resected, early-stage ALK-positive lung cancer.

Objectives: Reports of the prognostic significance of ALK-rearrangement in resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have been contradictory. We aimed to determine the prognosis of early-stage ALK-positive lung cancers relative to KRAS- and EGFR-mutant lung cancers.

Material And Methods: We reviewed medical records of patients with resected NSCLC harboring an ALK rearrangement (n = 29) or a driver mutation in EGFR (n = 255) or KRAS (n = 480).

Diagnostic Performance of Three-dimensional MRI for Depicting Cartilage Defects in the Knee: A Meta-Analysis.

Purpose To determine the diagnostic performance of three-dimensional (3D) MRI for the depiction and characterization of cartilage defects within the knee joint by using arthroscopy and/or open surgery as the standard of reference. Materials and Methods A systematic literature search was performed to extract diagnostic studies published between January 1985 and October 2017. Two independent investigators assessed the methodologic quality of each study by using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2.

Determining optimal poststroke exercise: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial investigating therapeutic intensity and dose on functional recovery during stroke inpatient rehabilitation.

Rationale: A top priority in stroke rehabilitation research is determining the appropriate exercise dose to optimize recovery. Although more intensive rehabilitation very early after stroke may be deleterious to recovery, inpatient rehabilitation, occurring after acute care, may be a more appropriate setting to assess therapeutic dose on neurological recovery.

Hypothesis: Individuals receiving higher intensity and dose exercise programs will yield greater improvements in walking ability over usual inpatient physical therapy care.

Characterising knotting properties of polymers in nanochannels.

Using a lattice model of polymers in a tube, we define one way to characterise different configurations of a given knot as either "local" or "non-local", based on a standard approach for measuring the "size" of a knot within a knotted polymer chain. The method involves associating knot-types to subarcs of the chain, and then identifying a knotted subarc with minimal arclength; this arclength is then the knot-size. If the resulting knot-size is small relative to the whole length of the chain, then the knot is considered to be localised or "local"; otherwise, it is "non-local".

The intersystem crossing of a cyclic (alkyl)(amino) carbene gold (i) complex.

The intersystem crossing (ISC) mechanism of a cyclic (alkyl)(amino) carbene gold (I) complex (CMA1) is studied using quantum dynamics. A model spin-vibronic Hamiltonian is developed, which includes 10 excited states and two important nuclear degrees of freedom. The quantum dynamics reveals that ISC from S → T occurs on the tens of picosecond time scale, consistent with recent experiments.

APOL1 risk variants cause podocytes injury through enhancing endoplasmic reticulum stress.

Two coding sequence variants (G1 and G2) of Apolipoprotein L1 () gene have been implicated as a higher risk factor for chronic kidney diseases (CKD) in African Americans when compared with European Americans. Previous studies have suggested that the APOL1 G1 and G2 variant proteins are more toxic to kidney cells than the wild-type APOL1 G0, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. To determine whether endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress contributes to podocyte toxicity, we generated human podocytes (HPs) that stably overexpressed APOL1 G0, G1, or G2 (Vec/HPs, G0/HPs, G1/HPs, and G2/HPs).

Triazatruxene: A Rigid Central Donor Unit for a D-A Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Material Exhibiting Sub-Microsecond Reverse Intersystem Crossing and Unity Quantum Yield via Multiple Singlet-Triplet State Pairs.

By inverting the common structural motif of thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials to a rigid donor core and multiple peripheral acceptors, reverse intersystem crossing (rISC) rates are demonstrated in an organic material that enables utilization of triplet excited states at faster rates than Ir-based phosphorescent materials. A combination of the inverted structure and multiple donor-acceptor interactions yields up to 30 vibronically coupled singlet and triplet states within 0.2 eV that are involved in rISC.

A mapping review of randomized controlled trials in the spinal cord injury research literature.

Study Design: Mapping Review.

Objective: The objective of this study was to map out and characterize the quantity and quality of all published spinal cord injury (SCI) randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with respect to number, sample size, and methodological quality between January 1970 and December 2016.

Setting: Not applicable.

Association of Interim FDG-PET Imaging During Chemoradiation for Squamous Anal Canal Carcinoma With Recurrence.

Purpose: Imaging parameters from 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) before and after chemoradiation therapy (CRT) for anal canal cancer correlate with clinical outcomes. This prospective, hypothesis-generating pilot study investigates the relationship between interim PET imaging during CRT for anal canal cancer and clinical outcome.

Methods And Materials: From June 2012 to August 2015, 30 patients with anal canal cancer were enrolled in a prospective clinical study of PET prior to and during CRT after ∼30 Gy.

Effectiveness of interventions involving nurses in secondary stroke prevention: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background And Purpose: Among members of the health care team, nurses play a large role in actively engaging stroke survivors in secondary stroke prevention programs. This systematic review and meta-analysis examines the effectiveness of interventions in which nurses have a primary role on modification of risk factors among stroke survivors.

Methods: We systematically searched for randomized controlled trials in relevant databases investigating the role of nurses in secondary stroke prevention.

Lesions of Ligamentum Teres: Diagnostic Performance of MRI and MR Arthrography-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the diagnostic performance of MRI and MR arthrography for depicting ligamentum teres lesions.

Materials And Methods: A literature search was performed. Original studies reporting the diagnostic accuracy of MRI examinations for the depiction of ligamentum teres lesions were included.

High-Intensity Interval Training After Stroke: An Opportunity to Promote Functional Recovery, Cardiovascular Health, and Neuroplasticity.

Introduction: Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability. Individuals poststroke possess less than half of the cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) as their nonstroke counterparts, leading to inactivity, deconditioning, and an increased risk of cardiovascular events. Preserving cardiovascular health is critical to lower stroke risk; however, stroke rehabilitation typically provides limited opportunity for cardiovascular exercise.