Publications by authors named "Jean Lee"

Objective: Patients with meningiomas require serial MRI for surveillance of tumor size and growth rate. The cost and resource requirements for contrast-enhanced MRI include intravenous cannulation, the contrast agent, risk of adverse reaction, and the time needed to acquire, review, and report the additional sequences. With repeated doses, gadolinium is known to accumulate in neural tissues.

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The innate immune system plays a critical role in the rapid recognition and elimination of pathogens through pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). Among these PRRs are the C-type lectins (CTLs) langerin, mannan-binding lectin (MBL), and surfactant protein D (SP-D), which recognize carbohydrate patterns on pathogens. Each represents proteins from different compartments of the body and employs separate effector mechanisms.

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Unlabelled: A novel Hendra virus (HeV) genotype (HeV genotype 2 [HeV-g2]) was recently isolated from a deceased horse, revealing high-sequence conservation and antigenic similarities with the prototypic strain, HeV-g1. As the receptor-binding (G) and fusion (F) glycoproteins of HeV are essential for mediating viral entry, functional characterization of emerging HeV genotypic variants is key to understanding viral entry mechanisms and broader virus-host co-evolution. We first confirmed that HeV-g2 and HeV-g1 glycoproteins share a close phylogenetic relationship, underscoring HeV-g2's relevance to global health.

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Background: Heightened levels of inflammatory markers are linked to increased morbidity/mortality in people with HIV (PWH) and often remain elevated after virologic suppression by antiretroviral therapy (ART). As new combinations of ART become available, an evaluation of their effects on immune activation and inflammation is warranted. Additionally, it remains unknown whether transient increases in viral load ("blips") during ART are associated with increases in inflammation.

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Article Synopsis
  • Buruli ulcer (BU) is a neglected tropical disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium ulcerans, primarily affecting skin and subcutaneous tissue, with transmission dynamics varying by geographic area, particularly in endemic regions like Victoria, Australia.
  • In a study conducted in Melbourne and Geelong, researchers conducted necropsies and surveillance on possums, revealing that 77% of the 26 examined possums were common ringtails, with 9 showing cutaneous ulcers and 73% testing positive for M. ulcerans DNA, indicating a significant reservoir in these animals.
  • The findings suggest that possums may contract BU through bites from infected mosquitoes, environmental sources, or wounds, highlighting the need for a One Health approach to
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Background: In the United States (US), hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening is not covered by payers in settings outside of primary care. A non-traditional, emergency department (ED)-based HCV screening program can be cost-effective and identify infection in vulnerable populations with a high HCV risk. This study examined the long-term cost-effectiveness of routine HCV screening and linkage-to-care for high-risk patients in the ED from the payer's perspective.

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Multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens like vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) are a critical threat to human health. Daptomycin is a last-resort antibiotic for VREfm infections with a novel mode of action, but for which resistance has been widely reported but is unexplained. Here we show that rifaximin, an unrelated antibiotic used prophylactically to prevent hepatic encephalopathy in patients with liver disease, causes cross-resistance to daptomycin in VREfm.

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  • The study evaluated the benefits of telemedicine for a hospital-at-home program, focusing on time and cost savings.
  • A retrospective analysis was conducted on 505 teleconsultations over a 10-month period, comparing time and travel costs of teleconsultation versus in-person visits.
  • Results showed significant savings, including 4022 km of travel avoided, 18,707 minutes (or 13 days) saved, and over SGD 4,600 in trip costs, highlighting the effectiveness of this approach even in its early implementation.
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The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has supercharged innovation in the field of molecular diagnostics and led to the exploration of systems that permit the autonomous identification of airborne infectious agents. Airborne virus detection is an emerging approach for determining exposure risk, although current methods limit intervention timeliness. Here, we explore reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assays for one-pot detection of Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (SCV2) run on membrane filters suitable for micro-air-filtration of airborne viruses.

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  • Native possums in Australia are key carriers of the pathogen causing Buruli ulcer (BU), and monitoring their excreta with PCR can help predict human risk areas for this neglected tropical disease.* -
  • A new low-cost method for extracting DNA from possum samples using guanidinium isothiocyanate and paramagnetic beads can be implemented at a fraction of the cost of commercial kits, making large-scale environmental monitoring more feasible.* -
  • The developed method shows comparable effectiveness to traditional techniques, enhancing the potential to combat the spread of BU in Victoria and possibly other regions affected by the disease.*
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Autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) display a strong female bias. Although sex hormones have been associated with protecting males from autoimmunity, the molecular mechanisms are incompletely understood. Here we report that androgen receptor (AR) expressed in T cells regulates genes involved in T cell activation directly, or indirectly via controlling other transcription factors.

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Background: Lesion detection is one of the most important clinical tasks in positron emission tomography (PET) for oncology. An anthropomorphic model observer (MO) designed to replicate human observers (HOs) in a detection task is an important tool for assessing task-based image quality. The channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) has been the most popular anthropomorphic MO.

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Microglia play a crucial role in synaptic elimination by engulfing dystrophic neurons via triggering receptors expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2). They are also involved in the clearance of beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD); nonetheless, the driving force behind TREM2-mediated phagocytosis of beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaques remains unknown. Here, using advanced 2D/3D/4D co-culture systems with loss-of-function mutations in TREM2 (a frameshift mutation engineered in exon 2) brain organoids/microglia/assembloids, it is identified that the clearance of Aβ via TREM2 is accelerated by externalized phosphatidylserine (ePtdSer) generated from dystrophic neurons surrounding the Aβ plaques.

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Commensal microbes have the capacity to affect development and severity of autoimmune diseases. Germ-free (GF) animals have proven to be a fine tool to obtain definitive answers to the queries about the microbial role in these diseases. Moreover, GF and gnotobiotic animals can be used to dissect the complex symptoms and determine which are regulated (enhanced or attenuated) by microbes.

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Staphylococcus aureus is an important bacterial pathogen that causes a wide variety of human diseases in community and hospital settings. S. aureus employs a diverse array of virulence factors, both surface-associated and secreted, to promote colonization, infection, and immune evasion.

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Background: Cerebral organoids (COs) are the most advanced in vitro models that resemble the human brain. The use of COs as a model for Alzheimer's disease (AD), as well as other brain diseases, has recently gained attention. This study aimed to develop a human AD CO model using normal human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) that recapitulates the pathological phenotypes of AD and to determine the usefulness of this model for drug screening.

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Background: Diets rich in minimally processed plant-based foods are recommended to breast cancer patients, and some may have an interest in whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diets that avoid animal-based foods, added fats, and refined sugars. Within WFPB diets, the intakes of isoflavones, omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6 PUFAs), and omega-3 polyunsaturated FAs (n-3 PUFAs), which have been discussed in reference to breast cancer outcomes, have not been well characterized.

Methods: Women with stage IV breast cancer on stable therapy were randomized 2:1 into (1) a WFPB intervention ( = 21) or (2) usual care ( = 11) for 8 weeks.

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Background: Standard measures of response such as Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors are ineffective for bone lesions, often making breast cancer patients that have bone-dominant metastases ineligible for clinical trials with potentially helpful therapies. In this study we prospectively evaluated the test-retest uptake variability of 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (F-FDG) in a cohort of breast cancer patients with bone-dominant metastases to determine response criteria. The thresholds for 95% specificity of change versus no-change were then applied to a second cohort of breast cancer patients with bone-dominant metastases.

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Hypoxia, a state of low oxygen level within a tissue, is often present in primary and secondary liver tumors. At the molecular level, the tumor cells' response to hypoxic stress induces proteomic and genomic changes which are largely regulated by proteins called hypoxia-induced factors (HIF). These proteins have been found to drive tumor progression and cause resistance to drug- and radiation-based therapies, ultimately contributing to a tumor's poor prognosis.

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Background: Standard measures of response such as Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors are ineffective for bone lesions, often making breast cancer patients with bone-dominant metastases ineligible for clinical trials with potentially helpful therapies. In this study we prospectively evaluated the test-retest uptake variability of 2-deoxy-2-[F]fluoro-D-glucose (F-FDG) in a cohort of breast cancer patients with bone-dominant metastases to determine response criteria. The thresholds for 95% specificity of change versus no-change were then applied to a second cohort of breast cancer patients with bone-dominant metastases.

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The exigencies of managing acutely ill residents within nursing homes have led to an increase in ambulance conveyances to the emergency department. This is further compounded by a shortage of adequately trained nursing staff and on-site physicians available around the clock. An acute regional hospital, strategically located in the epicenter of nursing home facilities in Singapore, encountered this challenge on its inception in 2018 within the northeast region.

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Purpose: To delineate specific imaging characteristics of solitary fibrous tumors, schwannomas, cavernous venous malformations, and well-circumscribed orbital lymphoma.

Methods: Patients undergoing excisional biopsy of solitary fibrous tumor, schwannomas, cavernous venous malformations, or well-circumscribed orbital lymphoma with preoperative MRIs available for review were identified at 3 academic centers in the United States and Australia. An exploratory statistical analysis was performed to identify important radiologic features, which were subsequently included in a random forest model.

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