Development of a Polygenic Risk Score to Predict Diverticulitis.

Background: Despite its prevalence and associated morbidity, we remain limited in our ability to predict the course of a patient with diverticular disease. Although several clinical and genetic risk factors have been identified, we do not know how these factors relate to one another.

Objective: Our aim was to determine whether a polygenic risk score could improve risk prediction for diverticulitis and recurrent diverticulitis compared with a model using only clinical factors.

Influence of systemic copper toxicity on early development and metamorphosis in Xenopus laevis.

The primary objective of the present study was to examine the influence of early systemic toxicity resulting from copper (Cu) exposure on metamorphic processes in Xenopus laevis. A 28-day exposure study with copper, initiated at developmental stage 10, was performed using test concentrations of 3.0, 9.

Real-Time Alignment and Reorientation of Polymer Chains in Liquid Crystal Elastomers.

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) exhibit soft elasticity due to the alignment and reorientation of mesogens upon mechanical loading, which provides additional mechanisms to absorb and dissipate energy. This enhanced response makes LCEs potentially transformative materials for biomedical devices, tissue replacements, and protective equipment. However, there is a critical knowledge gap in understanding the highly rate-dependent dissipative behaviors of LCEs due to the lack of real-time characterization techniques that probe the microscale network structure and link it to the mechanical deformation of LCEs.

Exploring behavioural factors affecting nutritional supplement use among children in Honduras.

Objective: This study explored social and behavioural factors associated with a home fortification of complementary foods program among families of undernourished children in 14 rural communities in Honduras.

Design: We collected and analysed survey data from a convenience sample of 196 households participating in a nutritional program using home fortification of complementary foods in 2017. The program supplied families with a soy-based atole powder fortified with micronutrients.

Use of Zip Code Based Aggregate Indicators to Assess Race Disparities in COVID-19.

Objective: In the first six months of the pandemic, information on race and ethnicity was missing for half of the US COVID-19 cases. Combining case ascertainment with census-based zip code indicators may identify COVID-19 race-ethnicity disparities in the absence of individual-level data.

Design: Ecological retrospective study for the period March-July 2020.

Anastomotic leak in patients with acute complicated diverticulitis undergoing primary anastomosis: risk factors and the role of diverting loop ileostomy.

Background: Recent data has suggested that primary anastomosis (PA), with or without a diverting loop ileostomy (DLI), is a safe option for the treatment of acute complicated diverticulitis. This study aimed to evaluate risk factors associated with anastomotic leak in patients who underwent a sigmoid colectomy with PA and to determine whether a DLI was protective against a clinically significant anastomotic leak.

Methods: Patients with acute complicated diverticulitis who underwent a laparoscopic or open sigmoid colectomy with PA, with or without a DLI, were identified in the NSQIP PUF(2016-2017).

3D Printing of Liquid Crystal Elastomer Foams for Enhanced Energy Dissipation Under Mechanical Insult.

Polymer foams are an essential class of lightweight materials used to protect assets against mechanical insults, such as shock and vibration. Two features are important to enhance their energy absorption characteristics: the foam structure and the matrix phase mechanical behavior. This study investigates novel approaches to control both of these features to enhance the energy absorption capability of flexible lattice foams.

Injury Profile of Children 0-14 Years Old in Honduras.

Aim: At the University Medical School Hospital in Honduras, a paper-based injury surveillance system (InSS) registered all injury cases in the emergency department in 2013. This is the first study to identify the injury profiles of children in Honduras, using the InSS data.

Materials And Methods: A case-series study was carried out using the InSS.

Seasonal Variation of Nutrient Loading in a Stoichiometric Producer-Consumer System.

Recent discoveries in ecological stoichiometry have indicated that food quality in terms of the phosphorus/carbon (P/C) ratio affects consumers whether the imbalance involves insufficient or excess nutrients. This phenomenon is called the "stoichiometric P/C knife-edge." In this study, we develop and analyze a producer-consumer model which captures this phenomenon.

Dynamics of a stoichiometric producer-grazer system with seasonal effects on light level.

Many population systems are subject to seasonally varying environments. As a result, many species exhibit seasonal changes in their life-history parameters. It is quite natural to try to understand how seasonal forcing affects population dynamics subject to stoichiometric constraints, such as nutrient/light availability and food quality.

Mechanistically derived spatially heterogeneous producer-grazer model subject to stoichiometric constraints.

Known stoichiometric models of a two species producer-grazer ecosystem have either neglected spatial dynamics or failed to track free phosphorus in the media. In this paper we present a spatially heterogeneous model that tracks phosphorus content in the producer and free phosphorus in the media. We simulate our model numerically under various environmental conditions.

Genotypic Selection in Spatially Heterogeneous Producer-Grazer Systems Subject to Stoichiometric Constraints.

Various environmental conditions may exert selection pressures leading to adaptation of stoichiometrically important traits, such as organismal nutritional content or growth rate. We use theoretical approaches to explore the connections between genotypic selection and ecological stoichiometry in spatially heterogeneous environments. We present models of a producer and two grazing genotypes with different stoichiometric phosphorus/carbon ratios under spatially homogenous and heterogeneous conditions.

Predictors of Utilization and Quality Assessment in Robotic Rectal Cancer Resection: A Review of the National Cancer Database.

Robotic surgery (RS) is a novel treatment for rectal cancer resection (RCR); however, this technology is not widely accessible. The objective of this study is to evaluate the utilization of RS in RCR compared with open and laparoscopic techniques and to assess the quality of resection. RCR from 2010 to 2012 were identified using the National Cancer Database and placed into categories: open, laparoscopic, and robotic.

A comparison of DMET Plus microarray and genome-wide technologies by assessing population substructure.

Objective: The capacity of the Affymetrix drug metabolism enzymes and transporters (DMET) Plus pharmacogenomics genotyping chip to estimate population substructure and cryptic relatedness was evaluated. The results were compared with estimates using genome-wide HapMap data for the same individuals.

Methods: For 301 unrelated individuals, spanning three continental populations and one admixed population, genotypic data were collected using the Affymetrix DMET Plus microarray.

Results from a novel modification to the ligation intersphincteric fistula tract.

Background: The ligation of intersphincteric fistula tract (LIFT) procedure for trans-sphincteric fistula-in-ano has been studied with variable success rates compared with initial reports. Failures occur mostly in the intersphincteric wound. Recently, we proposed a modification to LIFT, unroofing the fistula from internal opening to intersphincteric groove, ligating the fistula tract, but preserving the external sphincter.

Analysis of autophagosome formation using lentiviral biosensors for live fluorescent cellular imaging.

Autophagy, a highly regulated homeostatic degradative process, allows cells to reallocate nutrients from less important to more essential processes under extreme conditions of starvation. Autophagy also prevents the buildup of damaged proteins and organelles that cause chronic tissue damage and disease. Although a topic of great interest with involvement of multiple signaling pathways, there are limitations in real-time detection of the autophagic process.

Detection of end-stage apoptosis by ApopTag® TUNEL technique.

DNA fragmentation, the end stage of apoptosis, is the measure of ultimate demise of the cell. A convenient method for examining apoptosis via DNA fragmentation is by the Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (Tdt) dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) assay where the DNA strand breaks are detected by enzymatically labeling the free 3'-OH termini with modified nucleotides. ApopTag(®) kits detect single-stranded and double-stranded breaks associated with apoptosis.

Gastroesophageal junction hyperplastic (inflammatory) polyps: a clinical and pathologic study of 46 cases.

Hyperplastic (inflammatory) polyps (HPs) of the gastric corpus and antrum typically develop in association with chronic gastritis. However, little is known regarding the etiology, pathologic features, and natural history of HPs of the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ). We have noted, anecdotally, that GEJ HPs often occur in patients without gastric pathology.

Primary extragastrointestinal stromal tumor of the pleura: report of a unique case with genetic confirmation.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), the most common mesenchymal neoplasms of the tubular gastrointestinal tract, usually originate in the wall of the stomach or small intestine. Most GISTs harbor oncogenic mutations in either the KIT or platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA) tyrosine kinase receptor genes and show differentiation along the lines of the interstitial cells of Cajal. Rarely, GISTs arise primarily in the omentum, mesentery, or retroperitoneum, at which sites they are referred to as "extragastrointestinal stromal tumors" (EGISTs).

PAX8 Expression in well-differentiated pancreatic endocrine tumors: correlation with clinicopathologic features and comparison with gastrointestinal and pulmonary carcinoid tumors.

PAX (paired box) genes encode a family of transcription factors that regulate organogenesis and cell-lineage specification in multiple organ systems. In the pancreas, PAX proteins play a critical role in islet cell differentiation. We recently observed that islet cells show strong, diffuse staining for PAX8 by immunohistochemistry.

SOX2 is highly expressed in squamous cell carcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract.

SOX2 is a high-mobility group box embryonic stem cell transcription factor that is expressed in the developing foregut and normal gastric epithelium and is downregulated in intestinal metaplasia of the stomach and esophagus. In addition, SOX2 colocalizes with p63 in the basal layer and plays a critical role in the maintenance of the stratified squamous epithelium of the esophagus. SOX2 expression in squamous cell carcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract has not been previously evaluated.