Presentation, Management, and Outcomes of Patients with Giant Pheochromocytoma: Retrospective Cohort Study.

Context: Data on giant pheochromocytomas (PHEO), defined based on size ≥ 10 cm, are scarce.

Objective: to compare presentation, management, and outcomes of patients with giant vs non-giant PHEOs.

Design: retrospective cohort study, 2000-2023.

Polycytidine tract deletion from microRNA-detargeted oncolytic Mengovirus optimizes the therapeutic index in a murine multiple myeloma model.

Mengovirus is an oncolytic picornavirus whose broad host range allows for testing in immunocompetent cancer models. Two pathogenicity-ablating approaches, polycytidine (polyC) tract truncation and microRNA (miRNA) targets insertion, eliminated the risk of encephalomyocarditis. To investigate whether a polyC truncated, miRNA-detargeted oncolytic Mengovirus might be boosted, we partially or fully rebuilt the polyC tract into the 5' noncoding region (NCR) of polyC-deleted (MC) oncolytic constructs (NC) carrying miRNA target (miRT) insertions to eliminate cardiac/muscular (miR-133b and miR-208a) and neuronal (miR-124) tropisms.

Impact of Chronic Immunosuppression on Short-, Mid-, and Long-Term Bariatric Surgery Outcomes.

Introduction: Bariatric surgical outcomes depend heavily on proper healing of gastrointestinal anatomy, metabolic alterations, and patient lifestyle modifications which are all negatively impacted by immunosuppression and underlying inflammatory diseases. There is a lack of literature exploring how patients with diseases requiring immunosuppression respond to bariatric surgical intervention in the long term.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of chronically immunosuppressed patients who underwent primary bariatric surgeries at Mayo Clinic was conducted (2008-2020).

Does BMI Matter? A 10-Year Single Institutional Experience on 571 Bariatric Surgery Patients With BMI >50 kg/m 2.

Introduction: Patients undergoing bariatric surgery with body mass index (BMI) >50 kg/m 2 are at a higher risk of surgical morbidity when compared with less obese patients, however, there is limited data correlating surgical risk and efficacy with increasing BMI in patients with severe obesity. We hypothesize that regardless of the degree above 50 kg/m 2 their BMI, patients with severe obesity respond similarly to bariatric surgery.

Materials And Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with BMI >50 kg/m 2 who underwent biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, or sleeve gastrectomy at a single institution.

Ten year comparative analysis of sleeve gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, and biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch in patients with BMI ≥ 50 kg/m.

Introduction: Bariatric surgery is the most effective modality to stably reduce weight and related comorbidities in patients suffering from class II and III obesity. Data comparing long-term safety and efficacy of the three most effective bariatric operations are limited in patients with BMI ≥ 50 kg/m, which complicate shared surgeon-patient decision making regarding optimal procedure selection.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on all patients with BMI ≥ 50 kg/m who underwent biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD/DS), Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), or sleeve gastrectomy (SG) at our institution between 2009 and 2019.

The Outcomes of Laparoscopic Biliopancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch on Gastro-esophageal Reflux Disease: the Mayo Clinic Experience.

Purpose: The outcomes of laparoscopic biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD-DS) on gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) are not well elucidated.

Material/methods: This retrospective review included patients undergoing laparoscopic primary BPD-DS at Mayo Clinic from 2009 to 2019. GERD parameters analyzed included subjective symptom report/anti-reflux medication intake and/or endoscopic findings.

Impact of COVID-19 Governmental Restrictions on Emergency General Surgery Operative Volume and Severity.

Background: To describe the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency general surgery operative volumes during governmental shutdowns secondary to the pandemic and characterize differences in disease severity, morbidity, and mortality during this time compared to previous years.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study compares patients who underwent emergency general surgery operations at a tertiary hospital from March 1st to May 31st of 2020 to 2019. Average emergent cases per day were analyzed, comparing identical date ranges between 2020 (pandemic group) and 2019 (control group).

Collateral Lethal Effects of Complementary Oncolytic Viruses.

Virus-infected cells release type 1 interferons, which induce an antiviral state in neighboring cells. Naturally occurring viruses are therefore equipped with stealth replication strategies to limit virus sensing and/or with combat strategies to prevent or reverse the antiviral state. Here we show that oncolytic viruses with simple RNA genomes whose spread was suppressed in tumor cells pretreated with interferon were able to replicate efficiently when the cells were coinfected with a poxvirus known to encode a diversity of innate immune combat proteins.

Designing and building oncolytic viruses.

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are engineered and/or evolved to propagate selectively in cancerous tissues. They have a dual mechanism of action; direct killing of infected cancer cells cross-primes anticancer immunity to boost the killing of uninfected cancer cells. The goal of the field is to develop OVs that are easily manufactured, efficiently delivered to disseminated sites of cancer growth, undergo rapid intratumoral spread, selectively kill tumor cells, cause no collateral damage and pose no risk of transmission in the population.

Complete Genome of Bacillus megaterium Podophage Pascal.

Podophage Pascal infects Bacillus megaterium, a commonly used model organism in biochemical research and an important industrial-scale protein production system. Here, we report the sequenced and annotated genome of Pascal and describe its prominent features. Bacteriophages such as Pascal may be valuable tools for research and industry.

Different roles of the three loops forming the adhesive interface of nectin-4 in measles virus binding and cell entry, nectin-4 homodimerization, and heterodimerization with nectin-1.

Unlabelled: Many viruses utilize cell adhesion molecules of the immunoglobulin superfamily as receptors. In particular, viruses of different classes exploit nectins. The large DNA viruses, herpes simplex and pseudorabies viruses, use ubiquitous nectins 1 and 2.

Complete Genome of Bacillus thuringiensis Myophage Spock.

Bacillus thuringiensis is a Gram-positive, sporulating soil microbe with valuable pesticide-producing properties. The study of bacteriophages of B. thuringiensis could provide new biotechnological tools for the use of this bacterium.