The Effect of Colchicine on Platelet Function Profiles in Patients with Stable Coronary Artery Disease: The ECLIPSE Pilot Study.

Introduction: This prospective, single-arm pharmacodynamic study assessed the effect of colchicine (COLC) [Strides Pharma UK Ltd, Watford, Hertfordshire, England] 0.5 mg administered orally once daily for 14 days on platelet reactivity with respect to aspirin reaction units (ARUs) and P2Y reaction units (PRUs).

Methods: Twenty-two patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) on dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with daily maintenance aspirin and clopidogrel were recruited.

Identification of plant-based spilled oils using direct analysis in real-time-time-of-flight mass spectrometry with hydrophobic paper sampling.

Spilled plant-based oils behave very differently in comparison to petroleum oils and require different clean-up measures. They do not evaporate, disperse, dissolve, or emulsify to a significant degree but can polymerize and form an impermeable cap on sediment, smothering benthic media and resulting in an immediate impact on the wildlife community. The current study explored the application of rapid up-to-date direct analysis in real time (DART) with high-resolution mass spectrometry for plant-based oil typing.

Anti-PD-1 amplifies costimulation in melanoma-infiltrating T1-like Foxp3 regulatory T cells to alleviate local immunosuppression.

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) are the first line of treatment for many solid tumors including melanoma. PD-1 blockade enhances the effector functions of melanoma-infiltrating CD8 T cells, leading to durable tumor remissions. However, 55% of patients with melanoma do not respond to treatment.

Blocking tumor-intrinsic MNK1 kinase restricts metabolic adaptation and diminishes liver metastasis.

Dysregulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase interacting kinases 1/2 (MNK1/2)-eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) signaling axis promotes breast cancer progression. MNK1 is known to influence cancer stem cells (CSCs); self-renewing populations that support metastasis, recurrence, and chemotherapeutic resistance, making them a clinically relevant target. The precise function of MNK1 in regulating CSCs, however, remains unexplored.

Pharmacodynamic Comparison of Two Aspirin Formulations in the Caribbean: The ARC Study.

Introduction: This prospective, single-arm, crossover pharmacodynamic study assessed the effect of Bayer low-dose enteric-coated aspirin 81 mg tablets (LD EC-ASA) (Bayer AG, Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) compared to Vazalore low-dose phospholipid-aspirin liquid-filled 81 mg capsules (LD PL-ASA) (PLx Pharma Inc., Sparta, NJ, USA) on platelet reactivity with respect to aspirin reaction units (ARU).

Methods: Forty-seven healthy volunteers were recruited.

Tunable PhenoCycler imaging of the murine pre-clinical tumour microenvironments.

Background: The tumour microenvironment (TME) consists of tumour-supportive immune cells, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts. PhenoCycler, a high-plex single cell spatial biology imaging platform, is used to characterize the complexity of the TME. Researchers worldwide harvest and bank tissues from mouse models which are employed to model a plethora of human disease.

Enhancement of oil forensic methodology through the addition of polycyclic aromatic nitrogen heterocycle biomarkers for diagnostic ratios.

Current oil spill forensic identification of source oils relies upon hydrocarbon biomarkers resistant to weathering. This international technique was developed by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), under EN 15522-2 Oil Spill Identification guidelines. The number of biomarkers have expanded at pace with technological advances, while distinguishing new biomarkers becomes more challenging due to interference of isobaric compounds, matrix effects, and high cost of weathering experiments.

Renewing the Sydney undergraduate curriculum.

A number of commentators have recently called for a re-examination of the purpose and value of undergraduate education, arguing that change is required if universities are to deliver the value in educational outcomes that students and communities now require for a changing and challenging world (for example, Aoun, 2017; Bok, 2020; Davidson, 2017; Fischman & Gardner, 2022). Indeed, some have argued that such change is necessary to stem an emerging crisis in universities' 'social license to operate' (Bok, 2020). In this paper, we review the case for undergraduate curriculum change and present a case study of one Australian university's engagement with this challenge, describing the reasons for change, the desired outcomes, and some early impacts on students' study patterns.

Molecular dynamics, MMGBSA, and docking studies of natural products conjugated to tumor-targeted peptide for targeting BRAF V600E and MERTK receptors.

Recent studies have revealed that MERTK and BRAF V600E receptors have been found to be over-expressed in several types of cancers including melanoma, making these receptors targets for drug design. In this study, we have designed novel peptide conjugates with the natural products vanillic acid, thiazole-2-carboxylic acid, cinnamic acid, theanine, and protocatechuic acid. Each of these compounds was conjugated with the tumor targeting peptide sequence TAASGVRSMH, known to bind to NG2 and target tumor neovasculature.

Effect of Hydrocortisone on Mortality and Organ Support in Patients With Severe COVID-19: The REMAP-CAP COVID-19 Corticosteroid Domain Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Evidence regarding corticosteroid use for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is limited.

Objective: To determine whether hydrocortisone improves outcome for patients with severe COVID-19.

Design, Setting, And Participants: An ongoing adaptive platform trial testing multiple interventions within multiple therapeutic domains, for example, antiviral agents, corticosteroids, or immunoglobulin.

Binge drinking in male adolescent rats and its relationship to persistent behavioral impairments and elevated proinflammatory/proapoptotic proteins in the cerebellum.

Rationale: To demonstrate that repeated episodes of binge drinking during the adolescent period can lead to long-term deficits in motor function and memory in adulthood, and increase proteins in the brain involved with inflammation and apoptotic cell death.

Methods: Groups of early adolescent (PND 26) and periadolescent (PND 34) Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to either ethanol or plain air through a vapor chamber apparatus for five consecutive days (2 h per day), achieving a blood ethanol concentration equivalent to 6-8 drinks in the treatment group. Subjects then underwent a series of behavioral tests designed to assess memory, anxiety regulation, and motor function.

The anthelmintic drug praziquantel promotes human Tr1 differentiation.

Praziquantel (PZQ) is an anthelminthic human and veterinary drug used to treat trematode and cestode worms. Changes in immune responses have been demonstrated in humans following curative PZQ treatment of schistosome infections. These changes have been attributed to the removal of immunosupressive worms and immune responses to parasite antigens exposed from dying worms.

Coronal rhytidectomy in conjunction with deep plane walking sutures, modified Hotz-Celsus and lateral canthoplasty procedure in a dog with excessive brow droop.

This case report describes a unique technique of rhytidectomy in a Bloodhound to repair excessive brow folding and droop complicating underlying entropion. This case posed specific challenges due to the loose fascial plane connective tissue. A large circular area of coronal skin was excised, followed by placement of deep plane walking fixation sutures for cosmetic realignment and to alleviate brow droop.

Can a soft diet prevent bowel obstruction in advanced pancreatic cancer?

Although many patients are advised to follow a high-fiber diet to avoid constipation, it seems that a soft diet such as that recommended after bowel surgery may well be more helpful in avoidance of intestinal obstruction.

Live analysis of free centrosomes in normal and aphidicolin-treated Drosophila embryos.

In a number of embryonic systems, centrosomes that have lost their association with the nuclear envelope and spindle maintain their ability to duplicate and induce astral microtubules. To identify additional activities of free centrosomes, we monitored astral microtubule dynamics by injecting living syncytial Drosophila embryos with fluorescently labeled tubulin. Our recordings follow multiple rounds of free centrosome duplication and separation during the cortical division.

Digital blood flow response to body warming, cooling, and rewarming in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon.

Although the diagnosis of Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is usually made easily from a careful history, the assessment of RP severity is difficult, for the vasopastic attacks are not easily induced under experimental conditions. In this study, the laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) technique was used to quantify digital blood flow, which was standardized by body cooling and warming in patients with RP. Twenty-one healthy subjects and 56 RP patients were studied: 7 had primary RP, 22 had suspected secondary Raynaud's syndrome (susp RS), and 27 had systemic sclerosis (SSc)-associated secondary Raynaud's syndrome (SSc RS).

E-SHAP: inadequate treatment for poor-prognosis recurrent lymphoma.

Background: The treatment of refractory and recurrent lymphomas remains problematic, with the majority of patients showing no response to 'salvage' therapies. One regimen which has been suggested as showing particular efficacy is etoposide (40 mg/m2 daily x 4), cytosine arabinoside (2.0 g/m2 one dose), cisplatin (25 mg/m2/day infused over 4 days) and methylprednisolone (500 mg daily x 4) (E-SHAP).

Injuries to child cyclists in the Bay of Plenty.

Over five years 415 children attended the accident and emergency department at Whakatane Hospital for injuries sustained while riding pedal cycles, four of whom died and 17% required admission to hospital. Twenty-eight percent of riders were less than eight years old, although it is known that children are not safe on roads up to this age. Forty-five children were passengers, mostly under five years of age and suffering from lower limb injuries from catching feet in wheel spokes.

Frequency of asymptomatic genital herpes in pregnant women at term.

A group of 579 asymptomatic women from Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, Florida, and 207 from Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, admitted in labor at 37 to 40 weeks of gestation had vaginal cultures for herpes simplex virus (HSV). No cultures were positive and no neonates developed HSV infection. Seven patients gave a history of previous HSV infection in the group from Florida and three from the group in Hawaii.

Stimulus intensity control in depression: a study of the comparative effect of doxepin and amitriptyline on cortical evoked potentials.

The perceived intensity of a stimulus may be magnified during depression. Stimulus intensity control can be studied by means of cortical evoked potentials. In a study of 33 depressives, cortical evoked potentials were greater during depression than on recovery.

Exaggerated natriuresis in the conscious spontaneously hypertensive rat.

In response to an acute saline load, many patients with essential hypertension exhibit an exaggerated natriuresis relative to normotensive controls. In the present study, the urinary responses of conscious,Okamoto-strain, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), and Wistar-Kyoto strain normotensive rats (NTR) to an acute saline load were evaluated to determine if a similar exaggerated natruiresis exists in this form of hypertension. Twelve rats of each strain per group (12 weeks of age) were housed in metabolism cages for 1 week.

A controlled trial of maprotiline (Ludiomil) in depressed outpatients.

A double blind comparison is reported of a new tetracyclic antidepressant, maprotiline, with amitriptyline and placebo in psychiatric outpatients. Amitriptyline was significantly more effective than placebo in its global effect on depression. Maprotiline emerged as neither inferior to amitriptyline nor superior to placebo.