Publications by authors named "Michael Roberts"

Introduction: Propranolol is a beta-adrenoceptor blocking drug with sodium channel-blocking properties that can cause life-threatening toxicity in overdose. Limited research defines dose thresholds of toxicity. We aimed to investigate propranolol overdose and dose thresholds for severe toxicity.

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Purpose: Typical clinical "in use" conditions for topical semisolids involve their application as a thin film, often with rubbing that can induce metamorphic stress. Yet, product quality and performance tests often characterize the manufactured product, and may not consider product metamorphosis (e.g.

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Unlabelled: We recently reported that resistance trained (T, n=10) and untrained (UT, n=11) young adults experience vastus lateralis (VL) muscle atrophy following two weeks of disuse, and 8 weeks of recovery resistance training (RT) promotes VL hypertrophy in both participant cohorts. However, angiogenesis targets and muscle capillary number were not examined and currently no human studies that have sought to determine if disuse followed by recovery RT affects these outcomes. Thus, we examined whether disuse and/or recovery RT affected these outcomes.

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Objective: Youth disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) have a male preponderance, but the extent to which gender biases in clinical assessment influence this imbalance remains unclear. The present study investigates whether a child patient's gender affects clinicians' diagnostic decision-making regarding Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Conduct Dissocial Disorder (CDD), and Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED).

Method: Clinicians ( = 403; 57.

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  • - Therapeutic DNA cancer vaccines stimulate immune responses but often fall short in effectiveness; researchers found that manganese-doped silica nanoparticles (MSNA) can enhance these vaccines' performance.
  • - When combined with plasmid DNA encoding cancer antigens like α-fetoprotein, MSNA significantly increased specific immune responses in animal models, leading to better cancer immunity.
  • - The study showed that MSNA not only improved T cell responses against cancer but also successfully prevented tumor growth in models for both liver and HPV-related cancers.
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  • The study analyzed how resistance exercise and endurance cycling affect protein lactylation and acetylation in skeletal muscles using biopsies from college-aged participants.
  • Results showed that while acute and chronic resistance training reduced cytoplasmic protein acetylation, they did not significantly impact protein lactylation.
  • In vitro tests with sodium lactate treatments also found no significant changes in protein lactylation or acetylation, suggesting that exercise primarily influences protein acetylation rather than lactylation.
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In mice, the fetal brain is dependent upon the placenta for factors that guide its early development. This linkage between the two organs has given rise to the term, the placenta-brain axis. A similar interrelationship between the two organs may exist in humans.

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Tomato is a major global crop. However, its production is limited by Botrytis cinerea. Due to the toxicity of postharvest pesticide application, alternative control methods such as priming are being investigated.

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  • The highlights cover research from 2022 divided into three sections: preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative, focusing on advancements in heart transplantation.
  • The preoperative section discusses candidate assessment, donor optimization, and factors like cannabis use and comorbidities that impact transplantation success.
  • The intraoperative section emphasizes teamwork and surgical techniques while the postoperative section highlights managing complications like tricuspid regurgitation and exploring xenotransplantation options.
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Adaptations to skeletal muscle following resistance exercise are due in part to changes to the skeletal muscle transcriptome. Although transcriptional changes in response to resistance exercise occur in young and aged muscles, aging alters this response. Rodent models have served great utility in defining regulatory factors that underscore the influence of mechanical load and aging on changes to skeletal muscle phenotype.

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Pregnant women are often prescribed or abuse opioid drugs. The placenta is likely the key to understanding how opioids cause adverse pregnancy outcomes. Maternal oxycodone (OXY) exposure of pregnant mice leads to disturbances in the layer of invasive parietal trophoblast giant cells (pTGC) that forms the interface between the placenta and uterus.

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Unlabelled: Food insecurity is a pressing issue facing our world, particularly affecting coastal communities who rely on marine resources. The problem is further compounded by the rapidly changing climate, a deteriorating environment and growing human populations. It is essential to evaluate this issue accurately to reduce risk and improve the situation of coastal communities, especially in countries with less socioeconomic development.

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Background: It is unclear whether chronically training close to volitional failure influences motor unit recruitment strategies during fatigue.

Purpose: We compared resistance training to near volitional failure . non-failure on individual motor unit action potential amplitude (MUAP) and surface electromyographic excitation (sEMG) during fatiguing contractions.

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Purpose: The objective of this study was to investigate whether different dispensing processes can alter the physicochemical and structural (Q3) attributes of a topical cream product, and potentially alter its performance.

Methods: Acyclovir cream, 5% (Zovirax®) is sold in the UK and other countries in a tube and a pump packaging configurations. The structural attributes of the cream dispensed from each packaging configuration were analyzed by optical microscopy, confocal Raman microscopy and cryo-scanning electron microscopy.

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Purpose: This study examined how solvent-skin-solute interactions influenced the human epidermal permeation of three similar-sized phenolic compounds applied in a series of different solvents.

Methods: Human epidermal permeation fluxes and lag times of three phenolic compounds were assessed in Franz cells for a range of solvents varying in molecular size and solubility parameters. In order to develop a mechanistic understanding of the determinants of the permeation findings, the solubility of the compounds in solvents and stratum corneum, the extent of solvent uptake by the stratum corneum and the impact of the solvents on skin hydration and transepidermal water loss were also measured.

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Purpose: To assess radiomics and deep learning (DL) methods in identifying symptomatic Carotid Artery Disease (CAD) from carotid CT angiography (CTA) images. We further compare the performance of these novel methods to the conventional calcium score.

Methods: Carotid CT angiography (CTA) images from symptomatic patients (ischaemic stroke/transient ischaemic attack within the last 3 months) and asymptomatic patients were analysed.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how neurons in the inferior colliculus (IC) of the auditory brain integrate information over time, focusing on the expression of Glun2c and Glun2d mRNA in these neurons.
  • GluN2C/D NMDA receptors in the IC are unique because they can function even at resting membrane potential and have slower kinetics compared to other NMDA receptors, which aids in the temporal summation of inputs.
  • Blocking GluN2C/D receptors decreases the firing rates of IC neurons, suggesting that these receptors play a significant role in encoding auditory stimuli by enhancing the integration of synaptic inputs over time.
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Background: The combination of intravenous hydrocortisone and enteral fludrocortisone may reduce mortality in patients with septic shock. The optimal dose and reliability of absorption of fludrocortisone in critically ill patients are unclear.

Methods: In a multi-centre, open label, phase II randomized clinical trial, intravenous hydrocortisone alone or in combination with one of three doses of enteral fludrocortisone (50 µg, 100 µg or 200 µg daily) for 7 days was compared in patients with septic shock.

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Over the previous 20 years, the use of extracorporeal membranous oxygenation (ECMO) as a bridge to durable left ventricular assist device (dLVAD) increased significantly. Additionally, emerging literature has demonstrated a protective effect of biventricular decompression while on ECMO, with one such strategy including a temporary LVAD and right ventricular assist device (RVAD). The complexity of these operations is increased by the frequency of re-sternotomies, which result in adhesions and difficult access to traditional cannulation sites.

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Overexpression and aberrant activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) contribute to tumorigenesis, drug resistance, and tumor-immune evasion, making it a potential cancer therapeutic target. BP1003 is a neutral liposome incorporated with a nuclease-resistant P-ethoxy antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ASO) targeting the STAT3 mRNA. Its unique design enhances BP1003 stability, cellular uptake, and target affinity.

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We examined how resistance exercise (RE), cycling exercise and disuse atrophy affect myosin heavy chain (MyHC) protein fragmentation. The 1boutRE study involved younger men (n = 8; 5 ± 2 years of RE experience) performing a lower body RE bout with vastus lateralis (VL) biopsies being obtained prior to and acutely following exercise. With the 10weekRT study, VL biopsies were obtained in 36 younger adults before and 24 h after their first/naïve RE bout.

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The aim of this study was to investigate whether baseline values and acute and chronic changes in androgen receptors (AR) markers, including total AR, cytoplasmic (cAR), and nuclear (nAR) fractions, as well as DNA-binding activity (AR-DNA), are involved in muscle hypertrophy responsiveness by comparing young nonresponder and responder individuals. After 10 wk of resistance training (RT), participants were identified as nonresponders using two typical errors (TE) obtained through two muscle cross-sectional area (mCSA) ultrasound measurements (2 × TE; 4.94%), and the highest responders within our sample were numerically matched.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers are investigating how trophoblast cells, which are crucial for embryo implantation, grow and differentiate, but understanding is limited.
  • Human trophoblast stem cells (TSC) and specific treated stem cells (BAP) are used to study these processes, and their similarities to actual early trophoblasts have been compared.
  • The study found that while BAP and TSC closely resemble peri-implantation trophoblasts, they show minor differences in gene expression, suggesting they are useful models for studying implantation without using human embryos.
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Objectives: Telemedicine has become a widely accepted alternative to face-to-face patient encounters. Although there have been several peer-reviewed journal articles on incorporating telemedicine into the medical school curriculum, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, assessments of the effectiveness of remote supervision of medical students have not been reported. This prospective cohort study of student subjects using observational survey data evaluated the efficacy of telemedicine as an educational resource by comparing learning outcomes between osteopathic medical students receiving direct (physically present) supervision with a group who received remote (telemedicine) supervision by clinical faculty within a post-acute/long-term care (PA/LTC) setting.

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