Biochemical response to neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy before radiation therapy and the risk of death in patients with unfavorable-risk prostate cancer: A secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial.

Introduction: A prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level >0.5 ng/mL after 9 to 10 weeks of neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy and before radiation therapy (RT) was associated with an increased PSA-failure risk; however, the impact on all-cause mortality (ACM) risk after adjusting for serum testosterone level remains unknown.

Methods: From 2005 to 2015, 350 patients with localized, unfavorable-risk prostate cancer (PC) were randomly assigned to receive androgen deprivation therapy and RT plus docetaxel vs standard of care (SOC) with androgen deprivation therapy and RT.

Progesterone suppresses rhinovirus-induced airway inflammation by inhibiting neutrophil infiltration and extracellular traps formation.

Background: The process of NETosis is observed in a range of inflammatory conditions. Progesterone (P4) has been shown to alleviate inflammation caused by viral infections such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2. However, the precise molecular mechanisms responsible for this effect are not yet fully understood.

Cardiac Comorbidity and Exercise Intolerance in Bilateral Lung Transplant Recipients Followed at a Pediatric Center.

Reduced exercise capacity is common in young bilateral lung transplantation (Bi-LTx) recipients, but longer-term data on cardiac comorbidities are limited. We evaluate potential cardiac contributions to long-term exercise intolerance in this population. All Bi-LTx recipients at a single pediatric center, who completed routine clinical post-transplant cardiac assessment, including echocardiogram, cardiac exam, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), were included.

Trends in Gaps of Care for Patients With Congenital Heart Disease: Implications for Social Determinants of Health and Child Opportunity Index.

Background: Lifelong continuity of care is essential for patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) to maximize health outcomes; unfortunately, gaps in care (GIC) are common. Trends in GIC and of social determinants of health factors contributing to GIC are poorly understood.

Methods And Results: This retrospective cohort study included patients with CHD, aged 0 to 34 years, who underwent surgery between January 2003 and May 2020, followed up at a pediatric subspeciality hospital.

The relationship between ceramide profile and residual inflammatory risk in patients with coronary artery disease: Insights from an prospective study.

Background: Although progress has been made in managing cholesterol, targeting inflammation is essential for further reducing cardiovascular risk, as CVDs remain the leading cause of death globally. This study aimed to explore the association between plasma ceramide levels and residual inflammatory risk in patients with CAD.

Methods: A cross-sectional observational design was adopted using data from a secondary analysis of a multicenter prospective cohort study in China.

Four novel species of collected from freshwater habitats in Jiangxi Province, China.

During an investigation of fungal diversity from freshwater environments in different regions in Jiangxi Province, China, four interesting species were collected. Morphology coupled with combined gene analysis of an ITS, LSU, SSU, and DNA sequence data showed that they belong to the family . Four new species, , , , and are herein described.

The influence of vigorous physical exertion on cardiac demand under conditions of daily living among firefighters with elevated blood pressure.

Background: Firefighters have a high prevalence of cardiovascular disease. The poor heart health of firefighters is implicated in their increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Exercise may be protective against SCD partially due to the immediate blood pressure (BP) reductions of 5-8 mmHg following exercise, termed postexercise hypotension (PEH) OBJECTIVES: To examine PEH under ambulatory conditions after a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) among career firefighters METHODS: Firefighters (n = 19) completed a maximal CPET and non-exercise control (CONTROL) in random order on separate non-workdays and left the laboratory instrumented to an ambulatory BP (ABP) monitor.

Acceptability, Effectiveness, and Roles of mHealth Applications in Supporting Cancer Pain Self-Management: Integrative Review.

Background:  Cancer pain remains highly prevalent and persistent throughout survivorship, and it is crucial to investigate the potential of leveraging the advanced features of mobile health (mHealth) apps to empower individuals to self-manage their pain.

Objective:  This review aims to comprehensively understand the acceptability, users' experiences, and effectiveness of mHealth apps in supporting cancer pain self-management.

Methods:  We conducted an integrative review following Souza and Whittemore and Knafl's 6 review processes.

Edge-enhanced infrared image super-resolution reconstruction model under transformer.

Infrared images have important applications in military, security and surveillance fields. However, limited by technical factors, the resolution of infrared images is generally low, which seriously limits the application and development of infrared images in various fields. To address the problem of difficult recovery of edge information and easy ringing effect in the super-resolution reconstruction process of infrared images, an edge-enhanced infrared image super-resolution reconstruction model TESR under transformer is proposed.

Mortality Risk for Patients with Biopsy Gleason Grade Group 1 Prostate Cancer.

Background And Objective: We investigated the association of clinical factors at presentation with the presence of unsampled high-risk prostate cancer (PC) and PC-specific mortality (PCSM) and all-cause mortality (ACM) following radical prostatectomy in patients with biopsy Gleason Grade Group (GGG) 1 PC.

Methods: The study population comprised 10228 patients treated for GGG1 PC diagnosed via transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided systematic biopsy (SBx; n = 9248) or combined biopsy (CBx; SBx + TRUS/magnetic resonance image [MRI] fusion biopsy; n = 980) from a cohort study at a university hospital in Hamburg, Germany. We used logistic, Fine and Grays, and Cox multivariable regression methods to calculate the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of adverse pathology and adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for early prostate-specific antigen (PSA) failure (≤18 mo), PCSM, and ACM in relation to each clinical factor.

Contributions of Germline and Somatic Mosaic Genetics to Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms in Nonsyndromic Individuals.

Background: Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Although individuals with family histories of TAA often undergo clinical molecular genetic testing, adults with nonsyndromic TAA are not typically evaluated for genetic causes. We sought to understand the genetic contribution of both germline and somatic mosaic variants in a cohort of adult individuals with nonsyndromic TAA at a single center.

Multi-gene phylogenetic analyses revealed two novel species and one new record of (Pleosporales, Dictyosporiaceae) from China.

The rotting wood in freshwater is a unique eco-environment favoring various fungi. During our investigation of freshwater fungi on decaying wood, three hyphomycetes were collected from Jiangxi and Guangxi Provinces, China. Based on the morphological observations and phylogenetic analysis of a combined DNA data containing ITS, LSU, SSU and sequences, two new species, and , as well as a new record of , were introduced.

Elective Pelvic Lymph Node Radiation Therapy and the Risk of Death in Patients With Unfavorable-Risk Prostate Cancer: A Postrandomization Analysis.

Purpose: Although a contemporary randomized clinical trial has led to the use of whole-pelvic radiation therapy (WPRT), long-term data evaluating a potential reduction in mortality are lacking and are addressed in the current study.

Materials And Methods: From 2005 to 2015, 350 men with localized, unfavorable-risk prostate cancer (PC) were randomly assigned to receive androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and RT plus docetaxel versus ADT and RT. Treatment of the pelvic lymph nodes was at the discretion of the treating physician.

A Bayesian model-based reduced major axis regression.

Reduced major axis (RMA) regression, widely used in the fields of zoology, botany, ecology, biology, spectroscopy, and among others, outweighs the ordinary least square regression by relaxing the assumption that the covariates are without measurement errors. A Bayesian implementation of the RMA regression is presented in this paper, and the equivalence of the estimates of the parameters under the Bayesian and the frequentist frameworks is proved. This model-based Bayesian RMA method is advantageous since the posterior estimates, the standard deviations, as well as the credible intervals of the estimates can be obtained through Markov chain Monte Carlo methods directly.

Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension in Long-Term Survivors of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of exercise-induced pulmonary hypertension (PH) among long-survivors of congenital diaphragmatic hernia repair.

Study Design: This is a single-center, retrospective cohort study of CDH survivors who underwent exercise stress echocardiography (ESE) at Boston Children's Hospital from January 2006 to June 2020. PH severity was assessed by echocardiogram at baseline and after exercise.

Multi-Omics Analysis of Gut Microbiota and Host Transcriptomics Reveal Dysregulated Immune Response and Metabolism in Young Adults with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

The integrated dysbiosis of gut microbiota and altered host transcriptomics in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is yet to be known. This study investigated the associations among gut microbiota and host transcriptomics in young adults with IBS. Stool and peripheral blood samples from 20 IBS subjects and 21 healthy controls (HCs) collected at the baseline visit of an RCT were sequenced to depict the gut microbiota and transcriptomic profiles, respectively.

Clinical effectiveness of oral antiviral agents for treating non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients with chronic kidney disease.

Objectives: This study examined the effectiveness of nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir (NMV-r) and molnupiravir (MOV) in treating COVID-19 among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study, using the TriNetX research network, identified stage 3-5 CKD and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients with non-hospitalized COVID-19 between 1 January 2022, and 31 May 2023. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to compare patients on NMV-r or MOV (antiviral group) against those not receiving these treatments (control group).

Autocrine phosphatase PDP2 inhibits ferroptosis by dephosphorylating ACSL4 in the Luminal A Breast Cancer.

Phosphatases can dephosphorylate phosphorylated kinases, leading to their inactivation, and ferroptosis is a type of cell death. Therefore, our aim is to identify phosphatases associated with ferroptosis by analyzing the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of the Luminal A Breast Cancer (LumABC) cohort from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). An analysis of 260 phosphatase genes from the GeneCard database revealed that out of the 28 DEGs with high expression, only the expression of pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase 2 (PDP2) had a significant correlation with patient survival.

Secondary analysis of late major gastrointestinal and genitourinary toxicities in unfavorable-risk prostate cancer patients receiving docetaxel: Insights from a randomized trial.

Background: This study sought to evaluate the late toxicity associated with neoadjuvant and concurrent docetaxel and radiation therapy in patients with prostate cancer.

Methods: A secondary analysis was performed of the phase 3 multicenter randomized trial (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 05-043) including 350 patients with nonmetastatic unfavorable-risk prostate cancer. Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive androgen deprivation therapy, radiation therapy, and docetaxel versus androgen deprivation therapy and radiation therapy.

Reliability and Time Course of Postexercise Hypotension during Exercise Training among Adults with Hypertension.

Postexercise hypotension (PEH), or the immediate decrease in blood pressure (BP) lasting for 24 h following an exercise bout, is well-established; however, the influence of exercise training on PEH dynamics is unknown. This study investigated the reliability and time course of change of PEH during exercise training among adults with hypertension. PEH responders ( = 10) underwent 12 weeks of aerobic exercise training, 40 min/session at moderate-to-vigorous intensity for 3 d/weeks.

Are the tests overpowered or underpowered? A unified solution to correctly specify type I errors in design of clinical trials for two sample proportions.

As one of the most commonly used data types, methods in testing or designing a trial for binary endpoints from two independent populations are still being developed until recently. However, the power and the minimum required sample size comparisons between different tests may not be valid if their type I errors are not controlled at the same level. In this article, we unify all related testing procedures into a decision framework, including both frequentist and Bayesian methods.