Time-Dependent Changes in Hematoma Expansion Rate after Supratentorial Intracerebral Hemorrhage and Its Relationship with Neurological Deterioration and Functional Outcome.

Background: Hematoma expansion (HE) following an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a modifiable risk factor and a treatment target. We examined the association of HE with neurological deterioration (ND), functional outcome, and mortality based on the time gap from onset to baseline CT.

Methods: We included 567 consecutive patients with supratentorial ICH and baseline head CT within 24 h of onset.

German Version of the mHealth App Usability Questionnaire in a Cohort of Patients With Cancer: Translation and Validation Study.

Background: Good usability is important for the adoption and continued use of mobile health (mHealth) apps. In particular, high usability can support intuitive use by patients, which improves compliance and increases the app's effectiveness. However, many usability studies do not use adequate tools to measure perceived usability.

Medically Smart, Fiscally Illiterate: Lack of Financial Education Leads to Poor Retirement Savings Strategies in Surgical Trainees.

Introduction: Resident physicians are uniquely at high financial risk given their long training programs, lack of financial education, and documented poor financial literacy. Budgeting for retirement savings is an important metric for financial literacy.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with residents from two distinct surgery programs to assess their current financial status and their knowledge of and attitudes toward retirement savings strategies.

Identifying Policy-relevant Indicators for Assessing Landscape Vegetation Patterns to Inform Planning and Management on Multiple-use Public Lands.

Understanding the structure and composition of landscapes can empower agencies to effectively manage public lands for multiple uses while sustaining land health. Many landscape metrics exist, but they are not often used in public land decision-making. Our objectives were to (1) develop and (2) apply a process for identifying a core set of indicators that public land managers can use to understand landscape-level resource patterns on and around public lands.

Over Worked and Under Paid: How Resident Finances Impact Perceived Stress, Career Choices, and Family Life.

Background: The magnitude of student debt plaguing our nation is a major topic in political and academic spheres with median medical student debt of $200,000. This is compounded by poor financial health during training. This study evaluates how debt and financial wellness influence resident perceived stress, mental health, career plans, and relationships.

The Optimal Ileal Pouch: Physiologic Parameters Significantly Correlate with Overall Pouch Function.

Background: Ileal pouch function is affected by several patient factors and pouch physiology. The significance of pouch physiology on optimal pouch function has not been well characterized. The purpose of this study was to examine specific post-ileal pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA) physiologic parameters to determine impact on pouch function and quality of life.

Anal Intraepithelial Neoplasia Screening With Anal Pap Tests: Follow-up and Corresponding Histology.

Background: Anal cytology is used as a screening tool in the detection of precancerous anal squamous lesions. Follow-up clinical examination after abnormal anal cytology is recommended. The objective of this study was to determine how often abnormal cytology was followed by a clinical examination at our institution and how often cytology predicted histologic outcome.

MM-131, a bispecific anti-Met/EpCAM mAb, inhibits HGF-dependent and HGF-independent Met signaling through concurrent binding to EpCAM.

Activation of the Met receptor tyrosine kinase, either by its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), or via ligand-independent mechanisms, such as amplification or receptor overexpression, has been implicated in driving tumor proliferation, metastasis, and resistance to therapy. Clinical development of Met-targeted antibodies has been challenging, however, as bivalent antibodies exhibit agonistic properties, whereas monovalent antibodies lack potency and the capacity to down-regulate Met. Through computational modeling, we found that the potency of a monovalent antibody targeting Met could be dramatically improved by introducing a second binding site that recognizes an unrelated, highly expressed antigen on the tumor cell surface.

Clinically Competent and Fiscally at Risk: Impact of Debt and Financial Parameters on the Surgical Resident.

Background: While the costs of medical training continue to increase, surgeon income and personal financial decisions may be challenged to manage this expanding debt burden. We sought to characterize the financial liability, assets, income, and debt of surgical residents, and evaluate the necessity for additional financial training.

Study Design: All surgical trainees at a single academic center completed a detailed survey.

Methamphetamine use and heart failure: Prevalence, risk factors, and predictors.

Objectives: To compare methamphetamine users who develop heart failure to those who do not and determine predictors.

Methods: Patients presenting over a two-year period testing positive for methamphetamine on their toxicology screen were included. Demographics, vital signs, echocardiography and labs were compared between patients with normal versus abnormal B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP).

Systems biology driving drug development: from design to the clinical testing of the anti-ErbB3 antibody seribantumab (MM-121).

The ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases comprises four members: epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR/ErbB1), human EGFR 2 (HER2/ErbB2), ErbB3/HER3, and ErbB4/HER4. The first two members of this family, EGFR and HER2, have been implicated in tumorigenesis and cancer progression for several decades, and numerous drugs have now been approved that target these two proteins. Less attention, however, has been paid to the role of this family in mediating cancer cell survival and drug tolerance.

Short-term outcomes of minimally invasive versus open colectomy for colon cancer.

Background: Laparoscopic and open approaches to colon resection have equivalent long-term outcomes and oncologic integrity for the treatment of colon cancer. Differences in short-term outcomes should therefore help to guide surgeons in their choice of operation. We hypothesized that minimally invasive colectomy is associated with superior short-term outcomes compared to traditional open colectomy in the setting of colon cancer.

Does Anastomotic Leak Contribute to High Failure-to-rescue Rates?

Objective: Our aim was to evaluate failure-to-rescue (FTR) after anastomotic leak (AL) in colectomy patients.

Background: In the era of pay for performance, it is imperative that we understand the quality measures under which we are scrutinized. FTR has been proposed as a marker of surgical quality.

Postoperative Ileus--More than Just Prolonged Length of Stay?

Purpose: Given that postoperative ileus is common in colectomy patients, we sought to examine the association of ileus with adverse events in this patient population.

Methods: The ACS NSQIP puf file from 2012 to 2013 was queried for non-emergent colectomy cases. Predictors of other poor postoperative outcomes in patients who experienced postoperative ileus were assessed using chi-squared and multivariable regression analyses.

Characterizing readmission in ulcerative colitis patients undergoing restorative proctocolectomy.

Background: Postoperative readmissions increase costs and affect patient quality of life. Ulcerative colitis (UC) patients are at a high risk for hospital readmission following restorative proctocolectomy (RP).

Objective: The objective of this study is to characterize UC patients undergoing RP and identify causes and risk factors for readmission.

MM-141, an IGF-IR- and ErbB3-directed bispecific antibody, overcomes network adaptations that limit activity of IGF-IR inhibitors.

Although inhibition of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling pathway was expected to eliminate a key resistance mechanism for EGF receptor (EGFR)-driven cancers, the effectiveness of IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) inhibitors in clinical trials has been limited. A multiplicity of survival mechanisms are available to cancer cells. Both IGF-IR and the ErbB3 receptor activate the PI3K/AKT/mTOR axis, but ErbB3 has only recently been pursued as a therapeutic target.

Postoperative complications in patients with rectal cancer are associated with delays in chemotherapy that lead to worse disease-free and overall survival.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify the risk factors for delays in chemotherapy after rectal cancer surgery and evaluate the effects of delayed therapy on long-term outcomes. We also sought to clarify what time frame should be used to define delayed adjuvant chemotherapy.

Background: Postoperative complications have been found to influence the timing of chemotherapy in patients with colon cancer.

Lessons learned from quantitative dynamical modeling in systems biology.

Due to the high complexity of biological data it is difficult to disentangle cellular processes relying only on intuitive interpretation of measurements. A Systems Biology approach that combines quantitative experimental data with dynamic mathematical modeling promises to yield deeper insights into these processes. Nevertheless, with growing complexity and increasing amount of quantitative experimental data, building realistic and reliable mathematical models can become a challenging task: the quality of experimental data has to be assessed objectively, unknown model parameters need to be estimated from the experimental data, and numerical calculations need to be precise and efficient.

MicroRNA-21 as a potential colon and rectal cancer biomarker.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant diseases worldwide and the prognosis is still poor although much progress has been achieved in recent years. In order to reduce CRC-related deaths, many studies are aimed at identifying novel screening- and prognosis-related biomarkers. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of 18-27-nucleotide single-stranded RNA molecules that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level.

Understanding the role of cross-arm binding efficiency in the activity of monoclonal and multispecific therapeutic antibodies.

Antibodies are essential components of the adaptive immune system that provide protection from extracellular pathogens and aberrant cells in the host. Immunoglobulins G, which have been adapted for therapeutic use due to their exquisite specificity of target recognition, are bivalent homodimers composed of two antigen binding Fab arms and an immune cell recruiting Fc module. In recent years significant progress has been made in optimizing properties of both Fab and Fc components to derive antibodies with improved affinity, stability, and effector function.

Pathways for Neoarchean pyrite formation constrained by mass-independent sulfur isotopes.

It is generally thought that the sulfate reduction metabolism is ancient and would have been established well before the Neoarchean. It is puzzling, therefore, that the sulfur isotope record of the Neoarchean is characterized by a signal of atmospheric mass-independent chemistry rather than a strong overprint by sulfate reducers. Here, we present a study of the four sulfur isotopes obtained using secondary ion MS that seeks to reconcile a number of features seen in the Neoarchean sulfur isotope record.

Predictors of mortality after emergent surgery for acute colonic diverticulitis: analysis of National Surgical Quality Improvement Project data.

Background: The surgical treatment of acute colonic diverticulitis is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. However, patient and operative characteristics associated with mortality in this patient population are unclear. We hypothesize that demographic and perioperative variables can be used to predict postoperative mortality.

Comparable postoperative morbidity and mortality after laparoscopic and open emergent restorative colectomy: outcomes from the ACS NSQIP.

Background: Laparoscopic surgery is safe and effective in the management of common abdominal emergencies. However, there is currently a lack of data about its use for emergency colorectal surgery. We hypothesized that laparoscopy can improve the postoperative outcomes of emergency restorative colon resection.