Canary: An NLP Platform for Clinicians and Researchers.

Information Extraction methods can help discover critical knowledge buried in the vast repositories of unstructured clinical data. However, these methods are underutilized in clinical research, potentially due to the absence of free software geared towards clinicians with little technical expertise. The skills required for developing/using such software constitute a major barrier for medical researchers wishing to employ these methods.

The effects of short-term and long-term testosterone supplementation on blood viscosity and erythrocyte deformability in healthy adult mice.

Testosterone treatment induces erythrocytosis that could potentially affect blood viscosity and cardiovascular risk. We thus investigated the effects of testosterone administration on blood viscosity and erythrocyte deformability using mouse models. Blood viscosity, erythrocyte deformability, and hematocrits were measured in normal male and female mice, as well as in females and castrated males after short-term (2 wk) and long-term (5-7 mo) testosterone intervention (50 mg/kg, weekly).

The effects of testosterone deprivation and supplementation on proteasomal and autophagy activity in the skeletal muscle of the male mouse: differential effects on high-androgen responder and low-androgen responder muscle groups.

Men with prostate cancer who receive androgen deprivation therapy show profound skeletal muscle loss. We hypothesized that the androgen deficiency activates not only the ubiquitin-proteasome systems but also the autophagy and affects key aspects of the molecular cross talk between protein synthesis and degradation. Here, 2-month-old male mice were castrated and treated with either testosterone (T) propionate or vehicle for 7 days (short term) or 43 days (long term), and with and without hydroxyflutamide.

Testosterone improves the regeneration of old and young mouse skeletal muscle.

Aging is associated with loss of muscle mass and strength, reduced satellite cell number, and lower regenerative potential. Testosterone increases muscle mass, strength, and satellite cell number in humans; however, the effects of testosterone on the regenerative potential of skeletal muscle are unclear. Here, we investigated the effect of testosterone on the skeletal muscle regeneration of young (2-month-old) and aged (24-month-old) male mice.