CARDIAC-STAR: prevalence of cardiovascular comorbidities in patients with HR + /HER2 - metastatic breast cancer.

Background: Cardiovascular (CV) comorbidities and concurrent medications with risk of heart rate-corrected QT interval (QTc) prolongation can impact treatment decisions and safety discussions for patients with breast cancer. However, limited data are available regarding their prevalence in patients with HR + /HER2- metastatic breast cancer (mBC). We evaluated the prevalence of CV comorbidities, the use of concurrent medications with risk of QTc prolongation, and treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed HR + /HER2 - mBC.

Groundwater flowpath characteristics drive variability in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) loading across a stream-wetland system.

Groundwater-dependent ecosystems in areas with industrial land use are at risk of exposure to a PFAS chemicals. We investigated one such system with several known PFAS source areas, where high and low permeability sediments (glacial) coupled with groundwater-lake and groundwater/surface-water interactions created complex 'source to seep' dynamics. Using heat-tracing and chemical methods, numerous preferential groundwater discharge zones were identified and sampled across the upper Quashnet River stream-wetland system in Mashpee, MA, USA, downgradient of Joint Base Cape Cod (JBCC).

Resolving native GABA receptor structures from the human brain.

Type A GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) receptors (GABA receptors) mediate most fast inhibitory signalling in the brain and are targets for drugs that treat epilepsy, anxiety, depression and insomnia and for anaesthetics. These receptors comprise a complex array of 19 related subunits, which form pentameric ligand-gated ion channels. The composition and structure of native GABA receptors in the human brain have been inferred from subunit localization in tissue, functional measurements and structural analysis from recombinant expression and in mice.

A Novel Fibrinolysis Resistance Capacity Assay Can Detect Fibrinolytic Phenotypes in Trauma Patients.

Background:  To evaluate residual fibrinolysis resistance activity (FRA) in plasma, a detergent-modified plasma clot lysis assay time (dPCLT) was established in which α2-antiplasmin (A2AP) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) are inactivated without impacting protease activity. We applied this novel assay to severely injured trauma patients' plasma.

Material And Methods:  Tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA)-induced plasma clot lysis assays were conducted after detergents- (dPCLT) or vehicle- (sPCLT) treatment, and time to 50% clot lysis was measured ("transition midpoint", T ).

The tissue-plasminogen activator-challenged thromboelastography provides a comprehensive assessment of fibrinolysis in the severely injured.

Background: Tissue-plasminogen activator-challenged thromboelastography (tPA-TEG) predicts massive transfusion and mortality better than conventional rapid thromboelastography (rTEG), with little concordance between their lysis values (LY30). We hypothesized that the main fibrinolytic inhibitors plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and α-2 antiplasmin (A2AP), as well as markers of fibrinolytic activation (plasmin-antiplasmin [PAP], tPA-PAI-1 complex, tPA activity), would correlate more strongly with tPA-TEG versus rTEG LY30 and may explain the recent findings of four distinct fibrinolytic phenotypes in trauma based on these two TEG methodologies.

Methods: Adult trauma patients (n = 56) had tPA-TEG, rTEG, and plasma obtained on arrival to the emergency department with institutional review board approval.