The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on delays and disruptions in cancer care services: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic substantially impacted the delivery of cancer services and programs. Here we reviewed and synthesized the global scale and impact of pandemic-related delays and disruptions on cancer services, including diagnosis, diagnostic procedures, screening, treatment and supportive and palliative care. Based on data from 245 articles in 46 countries, we observed declines in the number of cancer screening participation (39.

Pitfalls in interpreting calibration in comparative evaluations of risk models for precision lung cancer screening.

Lung cancer screening by low-dose computed tomography reduces lung cancer mortality, but reliable risk-based selection of participants is crucial to maximize benefits and minimize harms. Multiple risk models have been developed for this purpose, and their discrimination and calibration performance is commonly evaluated based on large-scale cohort studies. Using a recent comparative evaluation of 10 risk models as an example, we illustrate the merits, limitations and pitfalls of such evaluations.

Metastatic recurrence in women diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: To assess proportions of metastatic recurrence in women initially diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer by stage at diagnosis, breast cancer subtype, calendar period and age.

Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE and Web of Science databases (January 2010-12 May 2022) was conducted. Studies reporting the proportion of distant metastatic recurrence in women with non-metastatic breast cancer were identified and outcomes and characteristics were extracted.

Evaluation of levetiracetam loading dose in adult patients with benzodiazepine-refractory status epilepticus.

Background: Status epilepticus (SE) is a neurologic emergency defined as continued seizure activity greater than five minutes or recurrent seizure activity without return to baseline. Benzodiazepine-refractory SE is continuous seizure activity despite treatment with a benzodiazepine. Treatment of benzodiazepine-refractory SE includes levetiracetam with loading doses ranging from 20 mg/kg to 60 mg/kg up to a maximum dose of 4500 mg.

Interpretable representation learning for 3D multi-piece intracellular structures using point clouds.

A key challenge in understanding subcellular organization is quantifying interpretable measurements of intracellular structures with complex multi-piece morphologies in an objective, robust and generalizable manner. Here we introduce a morphology-appropriate representation learning framework that uses 3D rotation invariant autoencoders and point clouds. This framework is used to learn representations of complex multi-piece morphologies that are independent of orientation, compact, and easy to interpret.

Colony context and size-dependent compensation mechanisms give rise to variations in nuclear growth trajectories.

To investigate the fundamental question of how cellular variations arise across spatiotemporal scales in a population of identical healthy cells, we focused on nuclear growth in hiPS cell colonies as a model system. We generated a 3D timelapse dataset of thousands of nuclei over multiple days, and developed open-source tools for image and data analysis and an interactive timelapse viewer for exploring quantitative features of nuclear size and shape. We performed a data-driven analysis of nuclear growth variations across timescales.

Global review of COVID-19 mitigation strategies and their impact on cancer service disruptions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, countries adopted mitigation strategies to reduce disruptions to cancer services. We reviewed their implementation across health system functions and their impact on cancer diagnosis and care during the pandemic. A systematic search was performed using terms related to cancer and COVID-19.

Clinical significance of coadministration of moderate to strong CYP enzyme inhibitors with doxorubicin in breast cancer patients receiving AC chemotherapy.

Introduction: Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme inhibitors may increase the toxicity of many chemotherapies. Medication databases classify doxorubicin coadministration with CYP2D6 or CYP3A4 inhibitors as either a major interaction or contraindication. This study assessed the incidence of toxicity secondary to doxorubicin given with or without CYP enzyme inhibitors in breast cancer patients receiving doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide.

Eleven strategies for making reproducible research and open science training the norm at research institutions.

Reproducible research and open science practices have the potential to accelerate scientific progress by allowing others to reuse research outputs, and by promoting rigorous research that is more likely to yield trustworthy results. However, these practices are uncommon in many fields, so there is a clear need for training that helps and encourages researchers to integrate reproducible research and open science practices into their daily work. Here, we outline eleven strategies for making training in these practices the norm at research institutions.

Quantitative estimates of preventable and treatable deaths from 36 cancers worldwide: a population-based study.

Background: Cancer is a leading cause of premature mortality globally. This study estimates premature deaths at ages 30-69 years and distinguishes these as deaths that are preventable (avertable through primary or secondary prevention) or treatable (avertable through curative treatment) in 185 countries worldwide.

Methods: For this population-based study, estimated cancer deaths by country, cancer, sex, and age groups were retrieved from the International Agency for Research on Cancer's GLOBOCAN 2020 database.

The utility of coded very high frequency telemetry for monitoring reintroduced mammal populations.

Very high frequency (VHF) radio tracking technology deployed on terrestrial vertebrates has been well utilized in ecology without much evolution since the 1960s. With the advent of multi-species rewilding projects, and the new field of reintroduction biology, there has been an increase in requirements for telemetry systems to monitor survival and mortality for many animals simultaneously. Common, pulsed VHF can only monitor one individual on each radio frequency, and the number of individuals monitored is constrained by the amount of time spent on each frequency to facilitate a detection and the number of receivers.

Low antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli isolates from two large Austrian alpine karstic spring catchments.

The increasing occurrence of antibiotic resistant bacteria poses a threat to global public health. Clinically relevant resistances also spread through the environment. Aquatic ecosystems in particular represent important dispersal pathways.

Integrated intracellular organization and its variations in human iPS cells.

Understanding how a subset of expressed genes dictates cellular phenotype is a considerable challenge owing to the large numbers of molecules involved, their combinatorics and the plethora of cellular behaviours that they determine. Here we reduced this complexity by focusing on cellular organization-a key readout and driver of cell behaviour-at the level of major cellular structures that represent distinct organelles and functional machines, and generated the WTC-11 hiPSC Single-Cell Image Dataset v1, which contains more than 200,000 live cells in 3D, spanning 25 key cellular structures. The scale and quality of this dataset permitted the creation of a generalizable analysis framework to convert raw image data of cells and their structures into dimensionally reduced, quantitative measurements that can be interpreted by humans, and to facilitate data exploration.

Probabilistic fecal pollution source profiling and microbial source tracking for an urban river catchment.

We developed an innovative approach to estimate the occurrence and extent of fecal pollution sources for urban river catchments. The methodology consists of 1) catchment surveys complemented by literature data where needed for probabilistic estimates of daily produced fecal indicator (FIBs, E. coli, enterococci) and zoonotic reference pathogen numbers (Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium and Giardia) excreted by human and animal sources in a river catchment, 2) generating a hypothesis about the dominant sources of fecal pollution and selecting a source targeted monitoring design, and 3) verifying the results by comparing measured concentrations of the informed choice of parameters (i.

Case Report: Bocavirus Infection Radiologically Resembling a Congestive Heart Failure in a Patient with Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.

Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a viral pathogen from the genus (family , subfamily ) discovered in 2005. Most of available literature is about HBoV in children and adults with hematological malignancies and in otherwise healthy children with respiratory infections. Information regarding infection in the adult population with solid tumors is scarce.

Clinical feasibility evaluation of digital dental articulation for three-piece maxillary orthognathic surgery: a proof-of-concept study.

Digital dental articulation for three-piece maxillary orthognathic surgery is challenging. The purpose of this proof-of-concept study was to evaluate the clinical feasibility of a newly developed mathematical algorithm to digitally establish the final occlusion for three-piece maxillary surgery. Five patients with jaw deformities who had undergone a three-piece double-jaw surgery that was planned virtually were randomly selected for this study.

Midsagittal Plane First: Building a Strong Facial Reference Frame for Computer-Aided Surgical Simulation.

Purpose: A facial reference frame is a 3-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system that includes 3 perpendicular planes: midsagittal, axial, and coronal. The order in which one defines the planes matters. The purposes of this study are to determine the following: 1) what sequence (axial-midsagittal-coronal vs midsagittal-axial-coronal) produced more appropriate reference frames and 2) whether orbital or auricular dystopia influenced the outcomes.

Coexistence of calcified- and lipid-containing plaque components and their association with incidental rupture points in acute coronary syndrome-causing culprit lesions: results from the prospective OPTICO-ACS study.

Aims: Rupture of the fibrous cap (RFC) represents the main pathophysiological mechanism causing acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Destabilization due to plaque biomechanics is considered to be importantly involved, exact mechanisms triggering plaque ruptures are, however, unknown. This study aims at characterizing the relation between plaque components and rupture points at ACS-causing culprit lesions in a large cohort of ACS-patients assessed by high-resolution intracoronary imaging.

Papillary Mucinous Adenocarcinoma of the Endolymphatic Sac: A Rare Middle Ear Neoplasm.

Glandular neoplasms of the temporal-mastoid region and endolymphatic sac (ELS) are rare, and it is quite challenging to differentiate between an adenoma and an adenocarcinoma. ELS tumors (ELST) usually present with papillary, follicular, or solid patterns and can be further distinguished histologically and through immunohistochemistry. The microscopic features and clinical course of this neoplasm have been comprehensively explained by Heffner, who considered it "low-grade adenocarcinoma of likely ELS origin.

Fabrication of sealed sapphire microfluidic devices using femtosecond laser micromachining.

Due to its hardness, strength, and transparency, sapphire is an attractive material for the construction of microfluidic devices intended for high-pressure applications, but its physiochemical properties resist traditional microfabrication and bonding techniques. Here a femtosecond pulsed laser was used to directly machine fluidic channels within sapphire substrates and to form bonds between machined and flat sapphire windows, resulting in the creation of sealed microfluidic devices. Sapphire-sapphire bond strength was determined by destructive mechanical testing, and the integrity of the bond was verified by the capillary filling of the channel with air and ethanol.

Age-Dependency of Neurite Outgrowth in Postnatal Mouse Cochlear Spiral Ganglion Explants.

Background: The spatial gap between cochlear implants (CIs) and the auditory nerve limits frequency selectivity as large populations of spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) are electrically stimulated synchronously. To improve CI performance, a possible strategy is to promote neurite outgrowth toward the CI, thereby allowing a discrete stimulation of small SGN subpopulations. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is effective to stimulate neurite outgrowth from SGNs.

Elucidating fecal pollution patterns in alluvial water resources by linking standard fecal indicator bacteria to river connectivity and genetic microbial source tracking.

A novel concept for fecal pollution analysis was applied at alluvial water resources to substantially extend the information provided by fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). FIB data were linked to river connectivity and genetic microbial source tracking (MST). The concept was demonstrated at the Danube River and its associated backwater area downstream of the city of Vienna, using a comprehensive 3-year data set (10 selected sites, n = 317 samples).

Biocompatible liquid-crystal elastomers mimic the intervertebral disc.

The hierarchical and anisotropic mechanical behavior requirement of load-bearing soft tissues limits the utility of conventional elastomeric materials as a replacement for soft-tissue materials. Liquid-crystal elastomers (LCEs) have the potential to excel in this regard owing to its unique combination of mesogenic order in an elastomeric network. In this study, the mechanical behavior of the LCEs relevant to load-bearing biomedical applications was explored.

Crosslinker length dictates step-growth hydrogel network formation dynamics and allows rapid on-chip photoencapsulation.

Hydrogels formed via free radical-mediated thiol-ene step-growth photopolymerization have been developed for a broad range of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. While the crosslinking mechanism of thiol-ene hydrogels has been well-described, there has been only limited work exploring the physical differences among gels arising from variations in crosslinker properties. Here, we show that the character of linear polyethylene glycol (PEG) dithiols used to crosslink multi-arm polyethylene glycol norbornene (PEGNB) can be used as a facile strategy to tune hydrogel formation kinetics, and therefore the equilibrium hydrogel network architecture.