Complete response to immunotherapy in a patient with high-risk stage III colorectal cancer after ctDNA-guided detection of early adjuvant treatment failure.

The standard of care for stage III colorectal cancer (CRC) is curative resection with adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT). There is a high risk of recurrence particularly for high-risk patients with stage III disease, making close disease monitoring vital. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is now established as an effective method of early detection of disease relapse as well as postoperative risk stratification.

Utilising an automated medication inventory management system for emergency crash carts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The high acuity of patients with COVID-19 during the pandemic in the city of New York correlated with an increased incidence of cardiac arrests and other emergent resuscitation scenarios requiring life-sustaining treatment. A spike in the utilisation of emergency crash cart medications was to be expected. The department of pharmacy at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University optimised the use of an automated medication inventory management system with radio-frequency identification to assess usage and turnover of emergency crash carts; improve efficiency and turnaround times for crash cart dispatches; track drug consumption; and manage ongoing medication shortages during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Condensation in Nanoporous Packed Beds.

In materials with tiny, nanometer-scale pores, liquid condensation is shifted from the bulk saturation pressure observed at larger scales. This effect is called capillary condensation and can block pores, which has major consequences in hydrocarbon production, as well as in fuel cells, catalysis, and powder adhesion. In this study, high pressure nanofluidic condensation studies are performed using propane and carbon dioxide in a colloidal crystal packed bed.

Hydrodynamic force between a sphere and a soft, elastic surface.

The hydrodynamic drainage force between a spherical silica particle and a soft, elastic polydimethylsiloxane surface was measured using the colloidal probe technique. The experimental force curves were compared to finite element simulations and an analytical model. The hydrodynamic repulsion decreased when the particle approached the soft surface as compared to a hard substrate.

Direct visualization of the interfacial position of colloidal particles and their assemblies.

A method for direct visualization of the position of nanoscale colloidal particles at air-water interfaces is presented. After assembling hard (polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate), silica) or soft core-shell gold-hydrogel composite (Au@PNiPAAm) colloids at the air-water interface, butylcyanoacrylate is introduced to the interface via the gas phase. Upon contact with water, an anionic polymerization reaction of the monomer is initiated and a film of poly(butylcyanoacrylate) (PBCA) is generated, entrapping the colloids at their equilibrium position at the interface.