Combination of polymeric micelle formulation of TGFβ receptor inhibitors and paclitaxel produces consistent response across different mouse models of Triple-negative breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is notoriously difficult to treat due to the lack of targetable receptors and sometimes poor response to chemotherapy. The transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) family of proteins and their receptors (TGFRs) are highly expressed in TNBC and implicated in chemotherapy-induced cancer stemness. Here, we evaluated combination treatments using experimental TGFR inhibitors (TGFβi), SB525334 (SB), and LY2109761 (LY) with paclitaxel (PTX) chemotherapy.

The Association Between Grit and Weight Loss After Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

Objective: Grit is a person's ability to establish long-term goals and work to achieve those goals irrespective of any barriers. We examined the relationship between the personality trait grit, obesity, and metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS)-induced weight loss.

Methods: In an ongoing prospective cohort, 104 adult patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) had preoperative grit questionnaires administered.

Association of Pneumatosis Intestinalis With Surgical Outcomes and Mortality: A Matched, Retrospective Cohort Study and Literature Review.

Background: To determine the clinical importance of pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) on surgical decision-making and patient outcomes.

Methods: A matched cohort observational study was conducted including all clinical encounters for both ambulatory and inpatient care at UCLA Health between February 15, 2006 and January 31, 2023. Patients were initially identified using encounter diagnostic codes for "other specified diseases of intestine.

Include the females: morphology-performance relationships vary between sexes in lizards.

An animal's morphology influences its ability to perform essential tasks, such as locomoting to obtain prey or escape predators. While morphology-performance relationships are well-studied in lizards, most conclusions have been based only on male study subjects, leaving unanswered questions about females. Sex-specific differences are important to understand because females carry the bulk of the physiological demands of reproduction.

Generalizability of Randomized Clinical Trial Outcomes for Diabetes Control Resulting From Bariatric Surgery.

Objective: To assess the external validity of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of bariatric surgical treatment on diabetes control.

Background: Multisite RCTs provide the strongest evidence supporting clinical treatments and have the greatest internal validity. However, characteristics of trial participants may not be representative of patients receiving treatment in the real world.

Obesity and abdominal hernia in ambulatory patients, 2018-2023.

Purpose: To determine the relationship between abdominal hernia and obesity. Although obesity is frequently cited as a risk factor for abdominal hernia, few studies have confirmed this association (Menzo et al. Surg Obes Relat Dis 14:1221-1232.

Effect of cinnamon spice on continuously monitored glycemic response in adults with prediabetes: a 4-week randomized controlled crossover trial.

Background: Previous clinical studies showing that cinnamon spice lowers blood glucose concentrations had inconsistent results.

Objectives: To determine the effect of daily cinnamon spice supplementation in an amount commonly used for seasoning on glucose concentrations in adults with obesity and prediabetes.

Methods: Following a 2-wk run-in period of maintaining a low polyphenol/fiber diet, 18 participants with obesity and prediabetes underwent a 10-wk randomized, controlled, double-blind, crossover trial (mean age 51.

Complete genome sequences and characteristics of mycobacteriophages Diminimus, Dulcita, Glaske16, and Koreni.

Complete genome sequences of four novel mycobacteriophages, Diminimus, Dulcita, Glaske16, and Koreni, isolated from soil are presented. All these bacteriophages belong to subcluster M1, except Koreni that belongs to subcluster A4. Moreover, all have siphovirus morphologies, with genome sizes ranging from 51,055 to 81,156 bp.

Physiological phenotypes differ among color morphs in introduced common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis).

Many species exhibit color polymorphisms which have distinct physiological and behavioral characteristics. However, the consistency of morph trait covariation patterns across species, time, and ecological contexts remains unclear. This trait covariation is especially relevant in the context of invasion biology and urban adaptation.

Small molecule screen identifies pyrimethamine as an inhibitor of NRF2-driven esophageal hyperplasia.

Objective: NRF2 is a master transcription factor that regulates the stress response. NRF2 is frequently mutated and activated in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), which drives resistance to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Therefore, a great need exists for NRF2 inhibitors for targeted therapy of NRF2 ESCC.

Child Welfare Investigations of Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence Referred by Medical Professionals in Ontario: A Uniquely Vulnerable Population?

Victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and their children may be at an increased risk for negative health outcomes and may present to healthcare settings. The objective of the current study is to examine the profile of medical-referred child welfare investigations of exposure to IPV in Ontario, Canada. Data from the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2018 were used.

In-vivo detection of white adipose tissue browning: a multimodality imaging approach.

Detection and differentiation of brown fat in humans poses several challenges, as this tissue is sparse and often mixed with white adipose tissue. Non-invasive detection of beige fat represents an even greater challenge as this tissue is structurally and functionally more like white fat than brown fat. Here we used positron emission tomography with F-fluorodeoxyglucose, computed tomography, xenon-enhanced computed tomography, and dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound, to non-invasively detect functional and structural changes associated with the browning process of inguinal white fat, induced in mice by chronic stimulation with the β-adrenergic receptor agonist CL-316243.

Pegloticase co-administered with high MW polyethylene glycol effectively reduces PEG-immunogenicity and restores prolonged circulation in mouse.

The interactions between polymers and the immune system remains poorly controlled. In some instances, the immune system can produce antibodies specific to polymer constituents. Indeed, roughly half of pegloticase patients without immunomodulation develop high titers of anti-PEG antibodies (APA) to the PEG polymers on pegloticase, which then quickly clear the drug from circulation and render the gout treatment ineffective.

Correlation of Computed Tomography, Pathological Findings, and Clinical Outcomes for Appendicoliths in Appendicitis.

Objectives: To correlate preoperative imaging of fecaliths with what is seen in surgical specimens.

Background: Early studies considered radiological findings of appendicoliths as a contraindication for nonoperative treatment of appendicitis. There is no standard definition for what is labeled as an appendicolith radiologically and little is known about the pathological correlates of these lesions.

Ocular Bacterial Infections: A Ten-Year Survey and Review of Causative Organisms Based on the Oklahoma Experience.

Ocular infections can be medical emergencies that result in permanent visual impairment or blindness and loss of quality of life. Bacteria are a major cause of ocular infections. Effective treatment of ocular infections requires knowledge of which bacteria are the likely cause of the infection.

Combination of Polymeric Micelle Formulation of TGFβ Receptor Inhibitors and Paclitaxel Produce Consistent Response Across Different Mouse Models of TNBC.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is notoriously difficult to treat due to the lack of targetable receptors and sometimes poor response to chemotherapy. The transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ) family of proteins and their receptors (TGFR) are highly expressed in TNBC and implicated in chemotherapy-induced cancer stemness. Here we evaluated combination treatments using experimental TGFR inhibitors (TGFβi), SB525334 (SB), and LY2109761 (LY) with Paclitaxel (PTX) chemotherapy.

Racial and Rural-Urban Disparities in Maternal Cardiac Disease Care in North Carolina: A Call to Action.

Background: Cardiac disease is a leading cause of severe maternal morbidity (SMM). We sought to estimate the effects of race and rural-urban status on cardiac-specific severe maternal morbidity ("cardiac SMM") in North Carolina.

Methods: This retrospective study used the 2019 North Carolina State Inpatient Database (SID).

Understanding the roles of the healthcare and child welfare systems in promoting the safety and well-being of children.

Introduction: The accurate identification and appropriate investigation of child maltreatment is a key priority for promoting the optimal health and development of children. Healthcare providers are often well-positioned professionals to report suspected child abuse and neglect, and, therefore, interact regularly with child welfare workers. Little research has examined the relationship between these two groups of professionals.

Management of small bowel obstruction and systematic review of treatment without nasogastric tube decompression.

Background: Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is common and its management has evolved in recent years.

Study Design: The literature describing adhesive small bowel obstruction (aSBO) treatment was reviewed, and a formal systematic review was performed to identify publications reporting results of aSBO treatment without NGTs.

Results: The annual rate of hospital admission for SBO in the US has increased, with 340,100 admissions in 2019 alone.

Climbing and Clinging of Urban Lizards are Differentially Affected by Morphology, Temperature, and Substrate.

Urbanization alters the environment along many dimensions, including changes to structural habitat and thermal regimes. These can present challenges, but may also provide suitable habitat for certain species. Importantly, the functional implications of these habitat shifts can be assessed through the morphology-performance-fitness paradigm, though these relationships are complicated by interactions among habitat choice, other abiotic factors, and morphology across scales (i.

In vivo imaging of brown adipose tissue vasculature reactivity during adrenergic stimulation of non-shivering thermogenesis in mice.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a fat tissue specialized in heat production (non-shivering thermogenesis) and used by mammals to defend core body temperature when exposed to cold. Several studies have shown that during non-shivering thermogenesis the increase in BAT oxygen demand is met by a local and specific increase in tissue's blood flow. While the vasculature of BAT has been extensively studied postmortem in rodents using histology, optical and CT imaging techniques, vasculature changes during stimulation of non-shivering thermogenesis have never been directly detected in vivo.