Gynecologic cancer care in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: To analyze the impact of the early COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis and initiation of treatment for patients with gynecologic cancer.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with gynecologic cancer in the National Cancer Database during 2017-2020 were included. For the first aim, incidence rate ratios were calculated to compare gynecologic cancer diagnosis in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic to the three years prior, and factors associated with a reduction in diagnosis were identified.

Androgen receptor expression in low grade serous ovarian cancer; clinical considerations in the diagnosis, treatment and surveillance of disease in a transgender male.

•Low grade serous (LGS) ovarian cancer is an uncommon cancer.•Androgen receptor expression testing is not routinely performed in patients with LGS ovarian cancer.•Systemic androgen levels may be elevated in patients with PCOS or those taking exogenous testosterone.

Rodent Estrous Cycle Monitoring Utilizing Vaginal Lavage: No Such Thing As a Normal Cycle.

The current methodology establishes a reproducible, standardized, and cost-effective approach to monitoring the estrous cycle of female Sprague Dawley (SD) adolescent rats. This study demonstrates the complexity of hormonal cycles and the broad spectrum of understanding required to construct a reliable and valid monitoring technique. Through an in-depth examination of principal experimental design and procedural elements, this description of the cycle and its fundamental principles provides a framework for further understanding and deconstructs misconceptions for future replication.

Sex Differences in Neurophysiological Changes Following Voluntary Exercise in Adolescent Rats.

Adolescence is a period of time characterized by the onset of puberty and is marked by cognitive and social developments and gross physical changes that can play a role in athletic performance. Sex differences are present with differences in body size, height, physiology and behavior which contribute to differences in athletic performance as well. Pre-clinical studies representing this active group are lacking.

Pathophysiology of Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury.

The national incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) exceeds that of any other disease in the pediatric population. In the United States the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 697,347 annual TBIs in children ages 0-19 that result in emergency room visits, hospitalization or deaths. There is a bimodal distribution within the pediatric TBI population, with peaks in both toddlers and adolescents.

Recovery From Repeat Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Adolescent Rats Is Dependent on Pre-injury Activity State.

Adolescents and young adults have the highest incidence of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI); sport-related activities are a major contributor. Roughly a third of these patients diagnosed with mTBI are estimated to have received a subsequent repeat mTBI (rTBI). Previously, animal studies have only modeled mTBI in sedentary animals.

Sex Differences in Behavioral Sensitivities After Traumatic Brain Injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with high rates of post-injury psychiatric and neurological comorbidities. TBI is more common in males than females despite females reporting more symptoms and longer recovery following TBI and concussion. Both pain and mental health conditions like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more common in women in the general population, however the dimorphic comorbidity in the TBI population is not well-understood.

Neurons of the Ventral Tegmental Area Encode Individual Differences in Motivational "Wanting" for Reward Cues.

It has been argued that the dopaminergic system is involved in the attribution of motivational value to reward predictive cues as well as prediction error. To evaluate, dopamine neurons were recorded from male rats performing a Pavlovian approach task containing cues that have both "predictive" and "incentive" properties. All animals learned the predictive nature of the cue (illuminated lever entry into cage), but some also found the cue to be attractive and were motivated toward it ("sign-trackers," STs).

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of a Novel C8-Pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) Adenosine Conjugate. A Study on the Role of the PBD Ring in the Biological Activity of PBD-Conjugates.

Here we sought to evaluate the contribution of the PBD unit to the biological activity of PBD-conjugates and, to this end, an adenosine nucleoside was attached to the PBD A-ring C8 position. A convergent approach was successfully adopted for the synthesis of a novel C8-linked pyrrolo(2,1-)(1,4)benzodiazepine(PBD)-adenosine(ADN) hybrid. The PBD and adenosine (ADN) moieties were synthesized separately and then linked through a pentynyl linker.

2-furyl(phenyl)methanol isolated from Atractilis gummifera rhizome exhibits anti-leishmanial activity.

We report for the first time the isolation of 2-furyl(phenyl)methanol (5) from the chloroform extracts of the Atractylis gummifera roots. A. gummifera is a thistle belonging to the Asteraceae family that produces the ent-kaurane diterpenoid glycoside atractyloside (ATR).

Integrated Target-Based and Phenotypic Screening Approaches for the Identification of Anti-Tubercular Agents That Bind to the Mycobacterial Adenylating Enzyme MbtA.

Iron is essential for the pathogenicity and virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which synthesises salicyl-capped siderophores (mycobactins) to acquire this element from the host. MbtA is the adenylating enzyme that catalyses the initial reaction of mycobactin biosynthesis and is solely expressed by mycobacteria. A 3200-member library comprised of lead-like, structurally diverse compounds was screened against M.

Dynamic Encoding of Incentive Salience in the Ventral Pallidum: Dependence on the Form of the Reward Cue.

Some rats are especially prone to attribute incentive salience to a cue (conditioned stimulus, CS) paired with food reward (sign-trackers, STs), but the extent they do so varies as a function of the form of the CS. Other rats respond primarily to the predictive value of a cue (goal-trackers, GTs), regardless of its form. Sign-tracking is associated with greater cue-induced activation of mesolimbic structures than goal-tracking; however, it is unclear how the form of the CS itself influences activity in neural systems involved in incentive salience attribution.

Neural Activity in the Ventral Pallidum Encodes Variation in the Incentive Value of a Reward Cue.

Unlabelled: There is considerable individual variation in the extent to which reward cues are attributed with incentive salience. For example, a food-predictive conditioned stimulus (CS; an illuminated lever) becomes attractive, eliciting approach toward it only in some rats ("sign trackers," STs), whereas others ("goal trackers," GTs) approach the food cup during the CS period. The purpose of this study was to determine how individual differences in Pavlovian approach responses are represented in neural firing patterns in the major output structure of the mesolimbic system, the ventral pallidum (VP).

Combining Multiple Types of Motor Rehabilitation Enhances Skilled Forelimb Use Following Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats.

Background: Neuroplasticity and neurorehabilitation have been extensively studied in animal models of stroke to guide clinical rehabilitation of stroke patients. Similar studies focused on traumatic brain injury (TBI) are lacking.

Objective: The current study was designed to examine the effects of individual and combined rehabilitative approaches, previously shown to be beneficial following stroke, in an animal model of moderate/severe TBI, the controlled cortical impact (CCI).

Docosahexaenoic acid supplementation does not improve Western diet-induced cardiomyopathy in rats.

Obesity increases risk for cardiomyopathy in the absence of hypertension, diabetes or ischemia. The fatty acid milieu, modulated by diet, may modify myocardial structure and function, lending partial explanation for the array of cardiomyopathic phenotypy. We sought to identify gross, cellular and ultrastructural myocardial changes associated with Western diet intake, and subsequent modification with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation.

The importance of the vaginal delivery route for antiretrovirals in HIV prevention.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to be a global health priority, with high rates of new HIV-I infections persisting in young women. One HIV prevention strategy is topical pre-exposure prophylactics or microbicides, which are applied vaginally or rectally to protect the user from HIV and possibly other sexually transmitted infections. Vaginal microbicide delivery will be the focus of this review.

A moral emergency and a medical problem: negotiating the control of venereal disease--the Saskatchewan Venereal Disease Protection Act, 1946.

The author examines Saskatchewan legislation that regulated venereal disease. Although venereal disease legislation was introduced in Saskatchewan in 1919, the centrepiece of this article is The Venereal Disease Prevention Act, 1946. In an attempt to understand the nuances of and underlying rationale for these laws, the author situates the legislation within its social context.