Publications by authors named "Hiu Lau"

Metastasizing leiomyoma is a rare condition characterized by the development of benign-appearing smooth muscle neoplasms at extrauterine sites in patients with a history of uterine leiomyoma. These lesions occur most commonly in the lung, with the abdominopelvic and mediastinal lymph nodes being other reported sites. Malignant transformation of metastasizing leiomyoma is extremely rare, with only a few cases described in the literature.

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Introduction: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is the fastest growing type of diabetes in many countries worldwide, including Australia. Although studies have explored the experiences of women with GDM from ethnic minority groups, few have compared their experiences with women from Anglosphere backgrounds.

Objective: To investigate the responses to diagnosis, the management of GDM, and the experiences of healthcare services among women with GDM from different culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.

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Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is experienced at a higher rate in women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. The aim of this systematic review is to describe the experiences of women with GDM from CALD backgrounds and compare their experiences to women with GDM from non-CALD backgrounds.

Materials And Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Scopus, WOS and CINAHL databases were searched for qualitative and quantitative studies which included data on the experiences of CALD background women with GDM during all stages of pregnancy.

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Article Synopsis
  • Influenza viruses A, B, and C cause significant health issues worldwide, and this study focuses on understanding the T cell response to an important protein (NP) across these strains, particularly in individuals with the HLA-A*03:01 molecule, found in about 4% of the global population.
  • The researchers measured the strength and quality of CD8 T cell responses to NP and its similar versions from B and C, discovering that the T cell response is diverse and potentially offers cross-protection against all three strains, which could aid future vaccine development.
  • Results indicated a stronger response to the A strain's NP compared to B and C, highlighting the need for careful selection of viral targets when designing vaccines to ensure effective protection
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Background: The effect of extracellular microenvironment (hypoxia and pH) has been regarded as a key hallmark in cancer progression. The study aims to investigate the effects of carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX), a key hypoxia-inducible marker, in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in correlation with clinicopathological parameters and predicting survival outcomes.

Methods: A total of 323 TNBC cases diagnosed at the Department of Anatomical Pathology, Singapore General Hospital from 2003 to 2013 were used.

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Background: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells can induce powerful immune responses in patients with hematological malignancies but have had limited success against solid tumors. This is in part due to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) which limits the activity of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) including CAR-T cells. We have developed a next-generation armored CAR (F i-CAR) targeting receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1), which is expressed at high levels in a range of aggressive tumors including poorly prognostic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

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Animals integrate changes in external and internal environments to generate behavior. While neural circuits detecting external cues have been mapped, less is known about how internal states like hunger are integrated into behavioral outputs. Here, we use the nematode C.

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The ability to grow in anchorage-independent conditions is an important feature of malignant cells, and it is well-established that cellular phenotypes in adherent cultures can differ widely from phenotypes observed in xenografts and anchorage-independent conditions. The anchorage-independent soft-agar colony formation assay has been widely used as a bridge between adherent cell cultures and animal tumor studies, providing a reliable in vitro tool to predict the tumorigenicity of cancer cells. However, this functional assay is limited in its utility for molecular mechanistic studies, as currently there is no reliable method that allows the extraction of biological macromolecules from cells embedded in soft-agar matrices, especially in experimental conditions where no visible colonies form.

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Aims: This study aims to investigate the long-term results of vascularized iliac bone grafting (VIBG) for osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH). The primary outcome is the long-term survivorship of VIBG, using conversion to total hip arthroplasty as an end-point. Secondly, this study will also analyse the patient or disease factors influencing the long-term survivorship of VIBG.

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Objective/hypothesis: This study aimed to determine objective production differences relative to two emotional interpretations in performing an excerpt from a classical art song. The null hypothesis was proposed.

Methods: The first author recorded an excerpt from an art song.

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Background: This study examined whether an innate systemic inflammatory response (SIR) measured by combination neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS) was associated with overall survival (OS) in patients with esophagogastric cancer (EC) undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) followed by surgery.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with EC, managed with NAC prior to surgery at a regional referral center, between January 2010 and December 2015, were included. The mGPS and NLR were calculated within 12 weeks before NAC.

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Management of urban brownfield land can contribute to significant removal of atmospheric CO through the development of soil carbonate minerals. However, the potential magnitude and stability of this carbon sink is poorly quantified as previous studies address a limited range of conditions and short durations. Furthermore, the suitability of carbonate-sequestering soils for construction has not been investigated.

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Mutant RAS isoforms are the most common oncogenes affecting human cancers. After decades of effort in developing drugs targeting oncogenic RAS-driven cancers, we are still charting an unclear path. Despite recent developments exemplified by KRAS (G12C) inhibitors, direct targeting of mutant RAS remains a difficult endeavor.

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Introduction: Ectopic splenic tissues left after a previous splenectomy can masquerade as a gastro-intestinal stromal tumour (GIST).

Presentation Of Case: Splenectomy was carried out for a 17-year-old girl with a giant epithelial cyst of spleen. Four years later, an upper endoscopy carried out for dyspepsia revealed two sub-mucosal lesions at the posterior wall of the gastric fundus.

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Inhibitors of isoprenylcysteine carboxylmethyltransferase (Icmt) are promising anti-cancer agents, as modification by Icmt is an essential component of the protein prenylation pathway for a group of proteins that includes Ras GTPases. Cysmethynil, a prototypical indole-based inhibitor of Icmt, effectively inhibits tumor cell growth. However, the physical properties of cysmethynil, such as its low aqueous solubility, make it a poor candidate for clinical development.

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Insulin signaling plays a critical role in coupling external changes to animal physiology and behavior. Despite remarkable conservation in the insulin signaling pathway components across species, divergence in the mechanism and function of the signal is evident. Focusing on recent findings from C.

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The skin pigment pattern of zebrafish is a good model system in which to study the mechanism of biological pattern formation. Although it is known that interactions between melanophores and xanthophores play a key role in the formation of adult pigment stripes, molecular mechanisms for these interactions remain largely unknown. Here, we show that Delta/Notch signaling contributes to these interactions.

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An extraction method consisting of both microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and solid phase extraction (SPE) was developed to extract pesticides of different polarities in infant milk formula. An experimental central face composite design was established to evaluate the effects of several MAE variables simultaneously such as temperature and pH of extractant. With Derringer desirability function, all pesticides were optimally extracted at 102 °C within 20 min with 4.

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The correct identification of oils and fats is important to consumers from both commercial and health perspectives. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) fingerprinting and chemometrics were employed successfully for the quality control of oils and fats. Principal component analysis (PCA) of both techniques showed group clustering of 14 types of oils and fats.

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Prostatic branching morphogenesis is an intricate event requiring precise temporal and spatial integration of numerous hormonal and growth factor-regulated inputs, yet relatively little is known about the downstream signaling pathways that orchestrate this process. In this study, we use a novel mesenchyme-free embryonic prostate culture system, newly available mTOR inhibitors and a conditional PTEN loss-of-function model to investigate the role of the interconnected PI3K and mTOR signaling pathways in prostatic organogenesis. We demonstrate that PI3K levels and PI3K/mTOR activity are robustly induced by androgen during murine prostatic development and that PI3K/mTOR signaling is necessary for prostatic epithelial bud invasion of surrounding mesenchyme.

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Myostatin, a member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily, has been implicated in the potent negative regulation of myogenesis in murine models. However, little is known about the mechanism(s) through which human myostatin negatively regulates human skeletal muscle growth. Using human primary myoblasts and recombinant human myostatin protein, we show here that myostatin blocks human myoblast proliferation by regulating cell cycle progression through targeted upregulation of p21.

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The separation of four toxic metal ions (Cr(3+) , Pb(2+) , Hg(2+) , Ni(2+) ) was achieved by optimizing the composition of the histidine/tartaric acid background electrolyte. An on-column preconcentration technique, viz. field amplified sample injection, was performed to improve the sensitivity.

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The processes of myelination remain incompletely understood but are of profound biomedical importance owing to the several dysmyelinating and demyelinating disorders known in humans. Here, we analyze the zebrafish puma mutant, isolated originally for pigment pattern defects limited to the adult stage. We show that puma mutants also have late-arising defects in Schwann cells of the peripheral nervous system, locomotor abnormalities, and sex-biased defects in adult craniofacial morphology.

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A study on the simultaneous separation of 13 pharmaceutical products by capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection was presented. The parameters of the background electrolyte, such as pH, organic additives as well as types and concentrations of cyclodextrins (CD) were studied. The optimal separation conditions were achieved with a background electrolyte consisting of 9 mM Tris/5 mM lactic acid at pH 8.

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