Inhibition of Aberrantly Overexpressed Polo-like Kinase 4 Is a Potential Effective Treatment for DNA Damage Repair-Deficient Uterine Leiomyosarcoma.

Purpose: Uterine leiomyosarcoma (LMS) is an aggressive sarcoma and a subset of which exhibits DNA repair defects. Polo-like kinase 4 (PLK4) precisely modulates mitosis, and its inhibition causes chromosome missegregation and increased DNA damage. We hypothesize that PLK4 inhibition is an effective LMS treatment.

Endocuff With or Without Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Colonoscopy in Detection of Colorectal Adenoma: A Randomized Colonoscopy Trial.

Introduction: Both artificial intelligence (AI) and distal attachment devices have been shown to improve adenoma detection rate and reduce miss rate during colonoscopy. We studied the combined effect of Endocuff and AI on enhancing detection rates of various colonic lesions.

Methods: This was a 3-arm prospective randomized colonoscopy study involving patients aged 40 years or older.

CD98hc is a target for brain delivery of biotherapeutics.

Brain exposure of systemically administered biotherapeutics is highly restricted by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Here, we report the engineering and characterization of a BBB transport vehicle targeting the CD98 heavy chain (CD98hc or SLC3A2) of heterodimeric amino acid transporters (TV). The pharmacokinetic and biodistribution properties of a CD98hc antibody transport vehicle (ATV) are assessed in humanized CD98hc knock-in mice and cynomolgus monkeys.

Location-Specific Hematoma Volume Cutoff and Clinical Outcomes in Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Background: Major intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) trials have largely been unable to demonstrate therapeutic benefit in improving functional outcomes. This may be partly due to the heterogeneity of ICH outcomes based on their location, where a small strategic ICH could be debilitating, thus confounding therapeutic effects. We aimed to determine the ideal hematoma volume cutoff for different ICH locations in predicting ICH outcomes.

A tool for monitoring cell type-specific focused ultrasound neuromodulation and control of chronic epilepsy.

Focused ultrasound (FUS) is a powerful tool for noninvasive modulation of deep brain activity with promising therapeutic potential for refractory epilepsy; however, tools for examining FUS effects on specific cell types within the deep brain do not yet exist. Consequently, how cell types within heterogeneous networks can be modulated and whether parameters can be identified to bias these networks in the context of complex behaviors remains unknown. To address this, we developed a fiber Photometry Coupled focused Ultrasound System (PhoCUS) for simultaneously monitoring FUS effects on neural activity of subcortical genetically targeted cell types in freely behaving animals.

Functionalized quinolizinium-based fluorescent reagents for modification of cysteine-containing peptides and proteins.

A series of quinolizinium-based fluorescent reagents were prepared by visible light-mediated gold-catalyzed -difunctionalization between quinolinium diazonium salts and electron-deficient alkyne-linked phenylethynyl trimethylsilanes. The electron-deficient alkynyl group of the quinolizinium-based fluorescent reagents underwent nucleophilic addition reaction with the sulfhydryl group on cysteine-containing peptides and proteins. The quinolizinium-based fluorescent reagents were found to function as highly selective reagents for the modification of cysteine-containing peptides and proteins with good to excellent conversions (up to 99%).

Parental Stress as the Mediator Between Symptom Burden and the Quality of Life of Chinese Children With Cancer.

Background: Because of their cancer and treatment adverse effects, most pediatric oncology patients will experience 1 or more symptoms at one time that can seriously affect their quality of life. Because these children are attached to parents, their symptom burden directly influences the parental stress level and parental interpretations of their children's quality of life.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the association between child-reported symptom burden and the pediatric quality of life reported by children with cancer and their parents, and whether parental perceived stress mediates these relationships.

Linking parents' self-stigma to the adjustment of children with disabilities.

This study examined the association of parental self-stigma with child adjustment, and whether parenting self-efficacy and parenting distress mediated the association. Cross-sectional data were collected from 186 families living with kindergarten children identified to have disabilities in Hong Kong, China (mean age = 61.62 months; 76% of them were boys).

Measurement agreement between a newly developed sensing insole and traditional laboratory-based method for footstrike pattern detection in runners.

This study introduced a novel but simple method to continuously measure footstrike patterns in runners using inexpensive force sensors. Two force sensing resistors were firmly affixed at the heel and second toe of both insoles to collect the time signal of foot contact. A total of 109 healthy young adults (42 males and 67 females) were recruited in this study.

The prognostic significance of polyclonal bone marrow plasma cells in patients with relapsing multiple myeloma.

Prior studies have revealed that the presence of increasing number of polyclonal plasma cells (pPCs) in the bone marrow (BM) are associated with better outcomes in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients. This effect has not been studied in patients with MM at the time of disease relapse. We determined the prognostic value of depletion of pPCs in the BM by 7-color multiparameter flow cytometry in a series of 174 relapsing MM patients.

Dangerous connections: on binding site models of infectious disease dynamics.

We formulate models for the spread of infection on networks that are amenable to analysis in the large population limit. We distinguish three different levels: (1) binding sites, (2) individuals, and (3) the population. In the tradition of physiologically structured population models, the formulation starts on the individual level.

IT Infrastructure to support the secondary use of routinely acquired clinical imaging data for research.

We propose an infrastructure for the automated anonymization, extraction and processing of image data stored in clinical data repositories to make routinely acquired imaging data available for research purposes. The automated system, which was tested in the context of analyzing routinely acquired MR brain imaging data, consists of four modules: subject selection using PACS query, anonymization of privacy sensitive information and removal of facial features, quality assurance on DICOM header and image information, and quantitative imaging biomarker extraction. In total, 1,616 examinations were selected based on the following MRI scanning protocols: dementia protocol (246), multiple sclerosis protocol (446) and open question protocol (924).

SI infection on a dynamic partnership network: characterization of R0.

We model the spread of an SI (Susceptible → Infectious) sexually transmitted infection on a dynamic homosexual network. The network consists of individuals with a dynamically varying number of partners. There is demographic turnover due to individuals entering the population at a constant rate and leaving the population after an exponentially distributed time.

Dynamic concurrent partnership networks incorporating demography.

We introduce a population model that incorporates From a mathematical point of view we deal with continuous-time Markov chains at the individual level, with the interaction between individuals captured by a global variable describing opportunities for new partnerships. We show that for large time a stationary distribution is attained and we deduce various statistical features of that distribution, with particular attention for concurrency, i.e.