Enhancing immune response and survival in hepatocellular carcinoma with novel oncolytic Jurona virus and immune checkpoint blockade.

Members of the genus including Jurona virus (JURV) have emerged as promising immunotherapeutic agents, characterized by their tumor selectivity, fast kinetics, low seroprevalence, and minimal toxicity in humans. Here, we demonstrate that the administration of JURV leads to tumor regression in both hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) xenograft and syngeneic models. Furthermore, our findings indicate that combining JURV and anti-PD-1 therapy reduced tumor burden and improved survival rates over JURV or anti-PD-1 alone in an orthotopic HCC model.

Postoperative high-dose-rate brachytherapy alone in stage T1-3N0M0 oral cancer with negative prognostic factors: A retrospective study.

Purpose: To evaluate treatment outcomes and toxicity in patients with stage T1-3N0M0 oral cancer treated with surgery followed by high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT).

Methods And Materials: Retrospective study of 50 patients with stage T1-T3N0 tongue and floor-of-mouth cancer who underwent tumour excision (+ elective neck dissection) followed by postoperative HDR-BT due to the presence of negative prognostic factors (close or positive resection margins, lymphovascular and/or perineural invasion, deep invasion). The plastic tube technique (dose: 18 x 3 Gy b.

Development of a peptide-based tumor-activated checkpoint inhibitor for cancer immunotherapy.

Antibody-based checkpoint inhibitors have achieved great success in cancer immunotherapy, but their uncontrollable immune-related adverse events remain a major challenge. In this study, we developed a tumor-activated nanoparticle that is specifically active in tumors but not in normal tissues. We discovered a short anti-PD-L1 peptide that blocks the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction.

Aggressive Versus Moderate Fluid Replacement for Acute Pancreatitis: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: A conservative strategy is the primary modality of treatment for acute pancreatitis of which fluid replacement is an important component. Since the results regarding early aggressive versus moderate fluid replenishment for acute pancreatitis are inconsistent, we sought to compare outcomes between the two resuscitation strategies in our meta-analysis.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.

Expression of β-Catenin in Salivary Gland Tumors.

Introduction: Salivary gland tumors are an important group of neoplasms in the head and neck region. This study aims to assess the significance of β-catenin expression in both benign and malignant salivary gland tumors.

Materials And Methods: We included 80 reported cases of benign and malignant salivary gland tumors and employed β-catenin stain on tumor blocks.

Analysis of chemical and genetic variability in wild hop (Humulus lupulus L.) populations of Kosovo.

Hops is an economically important species due to its diverse secondary metabolites and extensive use in the brewing and medicinal industries. Although hops is widely distributed in Kosovo, the chemical composition of its essential oils and genetic variability of wild populations remain understudied. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the chemical and genetic variability of Kosovo's wild hop population using essential oil constituents and microsatellite (simple sequence repeat - SSR) markers.

Discovery of Anti-CD47 Peptides as Innate Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.

Cancer immunotherapy targeting adaptive immune cells has been attracting considerable interest due to its great success in treating multiple cancers. Recently, there is also increasing interest in agents that can stimulate innate immune cell activities. Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting innate immune cells can block inhibitory interactions ('don't eat me' signals) between tumor cells and phagocytes.

Outcomes in systemic sclerosis patients hospitalized with COVID-19: Insight from the National Inpatient Sample.

Objective: COVID-19, a respiratory infection caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, can cause varying degrees of illness ranging from mild respiratory illness to severe respiratory failure. Systemic sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disease, with an increased prevalence of infections as compared to the general population. In this study, we compare the clinical outcomes and resource utilization for COVID-19 hospitalizations in patients with and without systemic sclerosis.

Dapsone-Induced Methemoglobinemia Presenting Concomitantly With COVID-19 Pneumonia and Pulmonary Embolism: A Case Report.

Acquired methemoglobinemia is a treatable condition that is often clinically subtle and can be missed on routine clinical assessment. We present a 73-year-old male who was evaluated in the emergency department with worsening respiratory symptoms requiring oxygen. He tested COVID-19 positive and had new pulmonary emboli evident on his CT chest.

Life's essential eight as targets for cardiometabolic risk reduction among non-Hispanic black adults: A primary care approach.

Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death in the United States. Several studies have shown racial disparities in the cardiovascular outcomes. When compared to their Non-Hispanic White (NHW) counterparts, non-Hispanic Black (NHB) individuals have higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and thus, increased mortality from atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases.

PREDICTION OF IRON DEFICIENCY IN CHILDREN USING EASY LABORATORY TOOLS.

Iron deficiency anemia is a common condition in children that can impair growth and development. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of easy, routinely available laboratory tests in predicting iron deficiency anemia. Medical records of 55 children (mean age 4.

The Characterization and Study of Antibacterial, Free Radical Scavenging, and Anticancer Potential of -Mediated Silver Nanoparticles.

In the present research, leaf extracts were utilized as reductants to bio-fabricate silver nanoparticles (LC-AgNPs) and this was followed by the evaluation of their antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer potential. Multiple parameters were optimized for the formation and fidelity of LC-AgNPs. The color shift of the reaction mixture from yellow to dark brown confirmed the LC-AgNPs formation.

COVID-19 booster dose acceptance, hesitancy and concerns among the elderly population: A cross-sectional study.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019 results in respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. Elderly patients are at high risk. Preventive measures like avoiding contact with COVID-19 patients and wearing N95 masks can contribute to reducing the risk of infection, but vaccination remains crucial.

Analysis of risk factors and prognostic factors of brain metastasis in gastric cancer: a surveillance, epidemiology and end-results database study.

Brain metastasis in gastric cancer (GC) patients is a rare phenomenon that is associated with adverse clinical outcomes and poor survival rates. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to investigate the incidence, risk factors and prognostic factors of brain metastasis in GC patients. Data on sociodemographic and tumor characteristics of GC patients from 2010 to 2019 was extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End-Results (SEER) database.

Occurrence of Virulence Genes among Methicillin-Resistant Isolated from Subclinical Bovine Mastitis.

The occurrence of -induced subclinical mastitis holds significant implications for public health. This specific microorganism possesses a wide array of pathogenic factors that enable it to adhere to, colonize, invade, and infect the host. The objective of the current study was to assess the prevalence of , determine antimicrobial resistance patterns, and identify virulence genes of methicillin-resistant (MRSA) strains responsible for subclinical mastitis in bovines.

A Pesky Spleen: A Painful Presentation of Extrapulmonary Sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory and granulomatous disease of uncertain etiology that can impact various organ systems and exhibits diverse clinical presentations, which adds to the complexity of disease diagnosis and management. Pathologically, it is distinguished by the presence of noncaseating granulomas within the affected organ system. In this case report, we describe a 34-year-old Caucasian female patient with isolated splenic and possible hepatic involvement of sarcoidosis, presenting with severe abdominal pain.

Association of Parsonage-Turner syndrome with COVID-19 infection and vaccination: a systematic review.

Objectives: The exact etiology of Parsonage-Turner syndrome is unknown, but it is known to be preceded by infection, vaccination, or surgical intervention. In this review, we describe associations of Parsonage-Turner syndrome with COVID-19 infection and vaccination.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed/MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar.

Enhancing the reliability and accuracy of AI-enabled diagnosis via complementarity-driven deferral to clinicians.

Predictive artificial intelligence (AI) systems based on deep learning have been shown to achieve expert-level identification of diseases in multiple medical imaging settings, but can make errors in cases accurately diagnosed by clinicians and vice versa. We developed Complementarity-Driven Deferral to Clinical Workflow (CoDoC), a system that can learn to decide between the opinion of a predictive AI model and a clinical workflow. CoDoC enhances accuracy relative to clinician-only or AI-only baselines in clinical workflows that screen for breast cancer or tuberculosis (TB).

Robust and data-efficient generalization of self-supervised machine learning for diagnostic imaging.

Machine-learning models for medical tasks can match or surpass the performance of clinical experts. However, in settings differing from those of the training dataset, the performance of a model can deteriorate substantially. Here we report a representation-learning strategy for machine-learning models applied to medical-imaging tasks that mitigates such 'out of distribution' performance problem and that improves model robustness and training efficiency.

The relationships between microbiome diversity and epidemiology in domestic species of malaria-mediated mosquitoes of Korea.

Microbiota in the mosquito plays an important role in their behavior and vector competence. The composition of their microbiome is strongly influenced by the environment, especially their habitat. The microbiome profiles of adult female Anopheles sinensis mosquitoes from malaria hyperendemic and hypoendemic areas in Republic of Korea were compared using 16S rRNA Illumina sequencing.

Gender bias and 'doctor brides'. A social dilemma of medical students in Pakistan.

Objective: To assess gender bias, discrimination and bullying at medical schools, and to explore the phenomenon of 'doctor brides'.

Methods: The multicentre survey was conducted at 14 medical education institutions across Pakistan from September 2020 to April 2021, and comprised medical students of either gender at both public-sector and private-sector institutions. The survey questions explored beliefs, experiences and knowledge related to common stereotypes and social issues in medical education, including female role models, work-life balance, gender roles, lack of support from family and faculty, and bullying.