Measuring the impact of new risk factors within survival models.

Survival is poor for patients with metastatic cancer, and it is vital to examine new biomarkers that can improve patient prognostication and identify those who would benefit from more aggressive therapy. In metastatic prostate cancer, 2 new assays have become available: one that quantifies the number of cancer cells circulating in the peripheral blood, and the other a marker of the aggressiveness of the disease. It is critical to determine the magnitude of the effect of these biomarkers on the discrimination of a model-based risk score.

Cyclin C promotes development and progression of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia by counteracting p53-mediated stress responses.

Despite major therapeutic advances in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), resistances and long-term toxicities still pose significant challenges. Cyclins and their associated cyclin-dependent kinases are one focus of cancer research when looking for targeted therapies. We discovered cyclin C as a key factor for B-ALL development and maintenance.

Acceptance and willingness of patients with chronic facial nerve palsy for an implantable device that assists with eye closure.

Background: Patients with facial nerve palsy often experience lagophthalmos (incomplete eye closure), which can lead to exposure keratitis. The Bionic Lid Implant for Natural Eye Closure (BLINC) is a medical device designed to mimic the more natural blink kinetics than traditional lid loading techniques.

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate potential factors that might influence the design of the BLINC device and willingness of participant to undergo the implant placement surgery.

An integrative characterization of proline cis and trans conformers in a disordered peptide.

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) often contain proline residues that undergo cis/trans isomerization. While molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have the potential to fully characterize the proline cis and trans subensembles, they are limited by the slow timescales of isomerization and force field inaccuracies. NMR spectroscopy can report on ensemble-averaged observables for both the cis-proline and trans-proline states, but a full atomistic characterization of these conformers is challenging.