Publications by authors named "Grill J"

Fewer than 10 % of children with diffuse midline glioma (DMG) survive 2 years from diagnosis. Radiation therapy remains the cornerstone of treatment and there are no medicinal products with regulatory approval. Although the biology of DMG is better characterized, this has not yet translated into effective treatments.

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Direct cross-coupling reactions between two similar unactivated partners are challenging but constitute a powerful strategy for the creation of new carbon-carbon bonds in organic synthesis. [4]Dendralenes are a class of acyclic branched conjugated oligoenes with great synthetic potential for the rapid generation of structural complexity, yet the chemistry of [4]dendralenes remains an unexplored field due to their limited accessibility. Herein, we report a highly selective palladium-catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling of two allenes with the presence of a directing olefin in one of the allenes, enabling the facile synthesis of a broad range of functionalized [4]dendralenes in a convergent modular manner.

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Background: Recruitment registries are maximally effective when registrants are retained to the point of referral. The Research Attitudes Questionnaire (RAQ) has previously been shown to predict research participation behaviors, including Alzheimer's disease clinical trial completion.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that RAQ score is associated with retention behaviors in a local recruitment registry.

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Introduction: In Alzheimer's disease (AD) clinical trials, participants must enroll with a study partner informant who completes validated study instruments. We hypothesized that mid-trial informant replacement impacts study data in industry-sponsored trials.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of two industry-sponsored AD clinical trials testing semagacestat in mild-to-moderate AD dementia.

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A stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) is of great importance for battery electrodes in terms of cycling as well as for its shelf life. While SEI formation on silicon anodes is generally only studied after the first charge and discharge of cells and initial reaction of electrolyte, we show the formation of a liquid/solid SEI in symmetric cells with silicon electrodes in contact with carbonate and glyme-based electrolytes under close to open circuit conditions and its behavior during long-term ageing. Activation energies of SEIs were measured via temperature-dependent electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to study the contribution of liquid/solid phases to ion transport.

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Introduction: H3K27-altered diffuse midline gliomas (DMG) have limited therapeutic options and a very poor prognosis. Encouraging responses were observed in early clinical trials with ONC201. As ONC201 was unavailable in Europe, a compassionate use program supported by the French Authorities was launched for patients at progression after standard of care radiotherapy.

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Background And Objectives: Nicotinamide is a coenzyme involved in cellular oxidation-reduction reactions that can inhibit Class III histone deacetylases (HDACs) or sirtuins. HDAC inhibition can affect numerous therapeutic pathways, including tau phosphorylation. We tested the hypothesis that nicotinamide treatment could reduce tau phosphorylation in early Alzheimer disease (AD).

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Background: This exploratory study explores the impact of paediatric brain cancer on the experiences of the fathers from the time of diagnosis, while most studies have focused on the mothers.

Methods: The content of interviews conducted with six fathers of children who had brain tumours at the age of approximately 10 years was analysed using a qualitative methodology, following the COREQ guidelines.

Results: The fathers first talked about their feelings about the way the brain tumour affected their child and how he/she coped with the illness and treatments, and they also described the difficulties encountered.

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Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) poses a significant treatment challenge in pediatric patients due to its aggressive nature and difficulty in crossing the blood-brain barrier with effective therapies. ONC201 (dordaviprone) shows promises in inducing apoptosis in cancer cells but suffers from poor water solubility and stability issues. Moreover, conventional solubilizing agents acceptable in formulations intended for adult patients are not suitable for pediatric use.

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Background: Many cognitively unimpaired older adults are interested in learning their Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarker status, but little is known about motivations to undergo biomarker testing and result disclosure in the setting of preclinical AD trials.

Objectives: Examine whether motivations to undergo AD biomarker testing and disclosure differ for individuals who have elevated amyloid compared to those with not elevated amyloid, and whether disclosure of amyloid results impacts participants' motivations.

Design, Setting, Participants: We conducted post-hoc analyses using data from the EARLY study, a preclinical AD trial of the beta-secretase inhibitor atabecestat.

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Diffuse pediatric-type high-grade gliomas (pedHGG), H3- and IDH-wildtype, encompass three main DNA-methylation-based subtypes: pedHGG-MYCN, pedHGG-RTK1A/B/C, and pedHGG-RTK2A/B. Since their first description in 2017 tumors of pedHGG-RTK2A/B have not been comprehensively characterized and clinical correlates remain elusive. In a recent series of pedHGG with a Gliomatosis cerebri (GC) growth pattern, an increased incidence of pedHGG-RTK2A/B (n = 18) was observed.

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Advances in treatment are changing not only the therapeutic options for patients with Alzheimer's disease; they're also changing their diagnostic options. Technologies to detect amyloid such as PET imaging and blood or CSF testing now have a central role in Alzheimer's disease care. Notably, this role has been made possible by regulatory approval and coverage by payers of therapies.

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Background: Advances in plasma biomarkers to detect Alzheimer's disease (AD) biology allows researchers to improve the efficiency of participant recruitment into preclinical trials. Recently, protein levels of plasma amyloid-beta and tau proteins have been shown to be predictive of elevated amyloid in brain. Online registries, such as the Alzheimer's Prevention Trials (APT) Webstudy, include and follow participants using remote assessments to facilitate efficient screening and enrollment of large numbers of individuals who may be at higher risk for AD.

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Introduction: Metrics of a participant's socioeconomic status (SES) are not routinely collected or standardized in clinical trials. This omission limits the ability to evaluate the generalizability of trial results and restricts clinicians from confidently interpreting the efficacy of new treatments across important sub-populations.

Methods: We adapted an SES measure of social disparity; the Hollingshead Two Factor Index of Social Position, which combines education and occupation into a single metric.

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Purpose: Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) have an increased risk of developing late chronic diseases, which can be influenced by the cancer type and its treatment. These chronic diseases can be severe and disabling, typically emerging years to decades after treatment. These deficits negatively impact quality of life, intelligence quotient, and memory.

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Article Synopsis
  • Constitutional mismatch repair deficiency (CMMRD) leads to a significant cancer risk, primarily resulting in high-grade gliomas in children due to mutations in mismatch repair genes.
  • Analysis of clinical and genetic data from 12 affected children revealed that 50% of their glioma samples expressed PDL1 and exhibited an ultra-hypermutated phenotype, with numerous mutations and specific driver mutations identified.
  • The research indicates that CMMRD gliomas have distinct oncogenic properties, differing from typical glioblastomas, suggesting potential for targeted therapies, particularly those targeting MAPK pathways and PD1 inhibitors.
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Article Synopsis
  • Alzheimer's disease disproportionately affects minoritized populations, and a study at UC Irvine aimed to address this by recruiting Hispanic/Latino, Filipino, and Korean American adults aged 55 to 80 for a preclinical AD trial through local community organizations.
  • The initiative engaged 654 individuals at 21 community events, but faced challenges with eligibility and follow-up, resulting in only 25 participants enrolling in the study: eight Filipino, two Hispanic/Latino, and 15 Korean adults.
  • This study highlights the importance of culturally tailored interventions and partnerships with trusted community organizations in successfully engaging underrepresented groups in health research.
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Purpose: Supratentorial (ST) ependymoma subgroups are defined by two different fusions with different prognoses. Astroblastomas, MN1-altered, have ependymal-like histopathologic features and represent a differential diagnosis in children. We hypothesized that ZFTA-fused ependymoma and YAP1-fused ependymoma on the one hand, and astroblastoma, MN1-altered, on the other hand, show different MRI characteristics.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates recruitment challenges faced by decision-makers for individuals with and without Down syndrome (DS), emphasizing the need to understand differing research attitudes to avoid sample bias.* ! -
  • Using data from two registries, the study compares Research Attitudes Questionnaire (RAQ) scores between non-DS decision-makers and family decision-makers of individuals with DS.* ! -
  • Although overall RAQ scores were similar, the study found that DS decision-makers expressed a greater sense of responsibility to help others but were less optimistic about medical research curing major diseases in their lifetime.* !
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Introduction: Amid recent approvals, early Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains an active area of treatment development.

Methods: We performed a conjoint experiment to compare preferences among 26 patients with mild cognitive impairment for four trial features including designs incorporating active aducanumab-control (vs. placebo), returning tau positron emission tomography (PET) results (vs.

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Background: Participant discontinuation from study treatment in a clinical trial can leave a trial underpowered, produce bias in statistical analysis, and limit interpretability of study results. Retaining participants in clinical trials for the full study duration is therefore as important as participant recruitment.

Objective: This analysis aims to identify associations of pre-randomization characteristics of participants with premature discontinuation during the blinded phase of the Anti-Amyloid treatment in Asymptomatic AD (A4) Study.

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Background: The Anti-Amyloid in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's Disease (A4) Study failed to show a treatment benefit with solanezumab, but the longitudinal consequences of elevated amyloid were observed in study participants with objective decline on the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (PACC) and subjective decline on the combined Cognitive Function Index (participant + study partner CFI), during the trial period.

Objectives: We sought to expand on previous findings by comparing longitudinal patterns of participant and study partner CFI separately and their associations with the PACC stratified by baseline amyloid tertile over the course of the A4 Study.

Design: Cognitively unimpaired older adult participants and their study partners were independently administered the CFI at screen prior to amyloid PET disclosure and then at 3 subsequent visits (week 48, week 168, week 240) of the study.

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Background: Converging evidence suggests that markers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology in cognitively unimpaired older individuals are associated with high risk of cognitive decline and progression to functional impairment. The Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's disease (A4) and Longitudinal Evaluation of Amyloid and Neurodegeneration Risk (LEARN) Studies enrolled a large cohort of cognitively normal older individuals across a range of baseline amyloid PET levels. Recent advances in AD blood-based biomarkers further enable the comparison of baseline markers in the prediction of longitudinal clinical outcomes.

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Introduction: Understanding attitudes toward participation among diverse preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) trial participants could yield insights to instruct future recruitment.

Methods: Using data from the Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic AD (A4) Study, we examined differences among mutually exclusive racial and ethnic groups in views and perceptions of amyloid imaging (VPAI), a measure of motivations to undergo amyloid biomarker testing in the setting of preclinical AD. We used linear regression to quantify differences at baseline.

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