Purpose: Musculoskeletal sarcomas are a rare group of malignant neoplasms, accounting for approximately 12 % of all malignant neoplasms among children. Childhood cancer outcomes vary between developed and developing countries due to financial and educational inequalities. Telemedicine programs have a huge impact on the quality of cancer care, helping to optimize resources for better cancer care in a resource-limited setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeviations from the normal physicochemical and functional properties of pulmonary surfactants are associated with the incidence of lung injury and other respiratory disorders. This study aims to evaluate the alteration of the 2D molecular organization and morphology of pulmonary surfactant model membranes by the electronic cigarette additives α-tocopherol (vitamin E) and α-tocopherol acetate (vitamin E acetate), which have been associated with lung injury, termed e-cigarette or vaping-use-associated lung injury (EVALI). The model membranes used contained a 7:3 molar ratio of DPPC (1,2-dipalmitoyl--glycero-3-phosphocholine) and POPG (1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl--glycero-3-phosphoglycerol) to which α-tocopherol and α-tocopherol acetate were added to form mixtures of up to 20 mol % additive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFQuantifying carbon fluxes into and out of coastal soils is critical to meeting greenhouse gas reduction and coastal resiliency goals. Numerous 'blue carbon' studies have generated, or benefitted from, synthetic datasets. However, the community those efforts inspired does not have a centralized, standardized database of disaggregated data used to estimate carbon stocks and fluxes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMangroves and saltmarshes are biogeochemical hotspots storing carbon in sediments and in the ocean following lateral carbon export (outwelling). Coastal seawater pH is modified by both uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide and natural biogeochemical processes, e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Wetlands cover a small portion of the world, but have disproportionate influence on global carbon (C) sequestration, carbon dioxide and methane emissions, and aquatic C fluxes. However, the underlying biogeochemical processes that affect wetland C pools and fluxes are complex and dynamic, making measurements of wetland C challenging. Over decades of research, many observational, experimental, and analytical approaches have been developed to understand and quantify pools and fluxes of wetland C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate interobserver agreement (IOA) on target volume definition for pancreatic cancer (PACA) within the Radiosurgery and Stereotactic Radiotherapy Working Group of the German Society of Radiation Oncology (DEGRO) and to identify the influence of imaging modalities on the definition of the target volumes.
Methods: Two cases of locally advanced PACA and one local recurrence were selected from a large SBRT database. Delineation was based on either a planning 4D CT with or without (w/wo) IV contrast, w/wo PET/CT, and w/wo diagnostic MRI.
Formulating ready-to-eat (RTE) products with growth inhibitors minimizes the risk of listeriosis. In part I, RTE egg products formulated with 6.25 ppm nisin were evaluated to control Listeria monocytogenes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: The aim of this study was to define determinants of length of hospital stay (LOS) longer than mean and recurrence of infection (ROI) after complete healing of patients with deep sternal wound infections (DSWI).
Patients And Methods: In this observational study, we included 303 patients (155 females and 148 males, with mean age of 68 years) treated from 2016 to 2020 at the Department of Plastic Surgery of the HELIOS Klinik Krefeld, Germany. All patients received extensive necrosectomy, repetitive negative pressure therapy periods, and final transplantation of a pectoral musculocutaneous flap.
Detection of hallmark genomic aberrations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is essential for diagnostic subtyping, prognosis, and patient management. However, cytogenetic/cytogenomic techniques used to identify those aberrations, such as karyotyping, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), or chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA), are limited by the need for skilled personnel as well as significant time, cost, and labor. Optical genome mapping (OGM) provides a single, cost-effective assay with a significantly higher resolution than karyotyping and with a comprehensive genome-wide analysis comparable with CMA and the added unique ability to detect balanced structural variants (SVs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoastal wetlands provide key ecosystem services, including substantial long-term storage of atmospheric CO in soil organic carbon pools. This accumulation of soil organic matter is a vital component of elevation gain in coastal wetlands responding to sea-level rise. Anthropogenic activities that alter coastal wetland function through disruption of tidal exchange and wetland water levels are ubiquitous.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSaline tidal wetlands are important sites of carbon sequestration and produce negligible methane (CH ) emissions due to regular inundation with sulfate-rich seawater. Yet, widespread management of coastal hydrology has restricted tidal exchange in vast areas of coastal wetlands. These ecosystems often undergo impoundment and freshening, which in turn cause vegetation shifts like invasion by Phragmites, that affect ecosystem carbon balance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThree-level atomic systems coupled to light have the capacity to host dark states. We study a system of V-shaped three-level atoms coherently coupled to the two quadratures of a dissipative cavity. The interplay between the atomic level structure and dissipation makes the phase diagram of the open system drastically different from the closed one.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report on the experimental realization and detection of dynamical currents in a spin-textured lattice in momentum space. Collective tunneling is implemented via cavity-assisted Raman scattering of photons by a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate into an optical cavity. The photon field inducing the tunneling processes is subject to cavity dissipation, resulting in effective directional dynamics in a non-Hermitian setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: With the advent of novel recanalization techniques and emerging devices, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has become a promising leading treatment option for patients with chronic total occlusions (CTO). The present study aims to evaluate the acute outcomes of PCI in previously failed re-attempted vs. first-attempted CTO-lesions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSalt marshes, due to their capability to bury soil carbon (C), are potentially important regional C sinks. Efforts to restore tidal flow to former salt marshes have increased in recent decades in New England (USA), as well as in some other parts of the world. In this study, we investigated plant biomass and carbon dioxide (CO) fluxes at four sites where restoration of tidal flow occurred five to ten years prior to the study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDissipative and unitary processes define the evolution of a many-body system. Their interplay gives rise to dynamical phase transitions and can lead to instabilities. In this study, we observe a nonstationary state of chiral nature in a synthetic many-body system with independently controllable unitary and dissipative couplings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: In 2008, the $1.2 M sexually transmitted disease (STD) services line item supporting STD clinical services by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health was eliminated, forcing the cessation of all state-supported STD service delivery.
Objective: To determine the impact on community provision of STD services after the elimination of state funds supporting STD service provision.
Purpose: Total skin electron beam therapy (TSEBT) has proved to be a safe and effective treatment for cutaneous T‑cell lymphomas. Here, we examined the impact of this treatment on patient quality of life and outcome.
Patients And Methods: Forty-four patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) or Sezary syndrome (SS) received 48 TSEBT courses with a median dose of 12 Gy within the past 8 years at our institute.
Purpose: Comparing radiation treatment plans by using the same safety margins and dose objectives for all techniques, to ascertain the optimal radiation technique for the stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) of low-risk prostate cancer.
Material And Methods: Treatment plans for 27 randomly selected patients were compared using intensity-modulated (IMRT) techniques as Sliding Window (SW), volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), and helical tomotherapy (HT), as well as Cyber Knife (CK) system. The target dose was calculated to 36.
Background: Recent evidence indicates increased use of urgent care centers (UCCs) for sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing. We sought to learn more about STD services in UCCs in a large metropolitan area.
Method: Using a modified rapid gap assessment approach, we interviewed staff from 19 UCCs in metro Atlanta, GA.
In light of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirement of 21 CFR 212 current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) for FDA-approved position emission tomography (PET) drugs, the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Biomedical Cyclotron (BMC) transformed from a pre-cGMP era academic cyclotron and radiochemistry facility to a current cGMP-compliant PET drug manufacturer. In this article, we share the financial and regulatory compliance aspects of the "transformation" required to develop a sustainable quality system to support the production of two PET drugs under Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs).
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