Phase 1b/2 study of orally administered pexidartinib in combination with radiation therapy and temozolomide in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) has a median survival of <2 years. Pexidartinib (PLX3397) is a small-molecule inhibitor of CSF1R, KIT, and oncogenic FTL3, which are implicated in GBM treatment resistance. Results from glioma models indicate that combining radiation therapy (RT) and pexidartinib reduces radiation resistance.

Breaking boundaries: a novel role for CUC genes in sex determination in cucurbits.

This article comments on: Segura M, García A, Gamarra G, Benítez A, Iglesias-Moya J, Martínez C, Jamilena M. 2024. An -resistant mutation in the transcription factor gene enhances carpel arrest and ectopic boundary specification in flower development.

Petal abscission is promoted by jasmonic acid-induced autophagy at Arabidopsis petal bases.

In angiosperms, the transition from floral-organ maintenance to abscission determines reproductive success and seed dispersion. For petal abscission, cell-fate decisions specifically at the petal-cell base are more important than organ-level senescence or cell death in petals. However, how this transition is regulated remains unclear.

Old school, new rules: floral meristem development revealed by 3D gene expression atlases and high-resolution transcription factor-chromatin dynamics.

The intricate morphology of the flower is primarily established within floral meristems in which floral organs will be defined and from where the developing flower will emerge. Floral meristem development involves multiscale-level regulation, including lineage and positional mechanisms for establishing cell-type identity, and transcriptional regulation mediated by changes in the chromatin environment. However, many key aspects of floral meristem development remain to be determined, such as: 1) the exact role of cellular location in connecting transcriptional inputs to morphological outcomes, and 2) the precise interactions between transcription factors and chromatin regulators underlying the transcriptional networks that regulate the transition from cell proliferation to differentiation during floral meristem development.

Insights of tricuspid regurgitation mechanisms in patients with right ventricular apical pacing by three-dimensional echocardiography.

Objective: Device lead-induced tricuspid regurgitation (LITR) mechanisms are well-defined by 3D transthoracic echocardiography (3D-TTE). There is a lack of data on the Latin-American population. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of several mechanisms and insights in patients with permanent right ventricular (RV) implanted devices by 3D-TTE examination.

Ultrasound Features and Ultrasound Scores in the Differentiation between Benign and Malignant Adnexal Masses.

Background: Several ultrasound (US) features help ultrasound experts in the classification of benign vs. malignant adnexal masses. US scores serve in this differentiation, but they all have misdiagnoses.

AGAMOUS regulates various target genes via cell cycle-coupled H3K27me3 dilution in floral meristems and stamens.

The MADS domain transcription factor AGAMOUS (AG) regulates floral meristem termination by preventing maintenance of the histone modification lysine 27 of histone H3 (H3K27me3) along the KNUCKLES (KNU) coding sequence. At 2 d after AG binding, cell division has diluted the repressive mark H3K27me3, allowing activation of KNU transcription prior to floral meristem termination. However, how many other downstream genes are temporally regulated by this intrinsic epigenetic timer and what their functions are remain unknown.

Comparison of Ultrasound Scores in Differentiating between Benign and Malignant Adnexal Masses.

Subjective ultrasound assessment by an expert examiner is meant to be the best option for the differentiation between benign and malignant adnexal masses. Different ultrasound scores can help in the classification, but whether one of them is significantly better than others is still a matter of debate. The main aim of this work is to compare the diagnostic performance of some of these scores in the evaluation of adnexal masses in the same set of patients.

Contribution of Outpatient Ultrasound Transvaginal Biopsy and Puncture in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pelvic Lesions: A Bicenter Study.

Background: The use of transvaginal ultrasound guided biopsy and puncture of pelvic lesions is a minimally invasive technique that allows for accurate diagnosis. It has many advantages compared to other more invasive (lower complication rate) or non-invasive techniques (accurate diagnosis). Furthermore, it offers greater availability, it does not radiate, enables the study of pelvic masses accessible vaginally with ultrasound control in real time, and it is possible to use the colour Doppler avoiding puncturing large vessels among others.

Kumbh Mela Religious Gathering as a Massive Superspreading Event: Potential Culprit for the Exponential Surge of COVID-19 Cases in India.

The Kumbh Mela is a significant religious gathering of millions of Hindu devotees in India. It is celebrated on certain auspicious days in the Hindu calendar and attracts millions of pilgrims across the country. Despite the religious intention of millions of Hindu devotees, it raised public health concerns as it became a massive superspreading event for COVID-19.

One factor, many systems: the floral homeotic protein AGAMOUS and its epigenetic regulatory mechanisms.

Tissue-specific transcription factors allow cells to specify new fates by exerting control over gene regulatory networks and the epigenetic landscape of a cell. However, our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying cell fate decisions is limited. In Arabidopsis, the MADS-box transcription factor AGAMOUS (AG) plays a central role in regulating reproductive organ identity and meristem determinacy during flower development.

An Unusual Case of Prolymphocytic Leukemia Transformation in a Patient With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

B-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (B-PLL) is a rare leukemia characterized by rapidly increasing leukocytosis with splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy. Treatment strategies are largely based on studies of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Antibodies against the cell surface protein CD20 are considered to be first-line therapy.

Left ventricular dyssynchrony as result of right ventricular permanent apical pacing.

La estimulación apical permanente del ventrículo derecho (VD) puede producir asincronía del ventrículo izquierdo (VI) desde los puntos de vista eléctrico y mecánico. Este fenómeno es efecto de una alteración de la activación normal del VI que lleva al deterioro de la función sistólica y la aparición de insuficiencia cardíaca y sus efectos deletéreos relacionados. Para el estudio de la asincronía eléctrica del VI se ha propuesto en fecha reciente el nuevo sistema electrocardiográfico no invasivo Synchromax, que puede cuantificar el grado de asincronía eléctrica que causa una subsecuente asincronía mecánica.

Abiotic factors influencing soil microbial activity in the northern Antarctic Peninsula region.

Microorganisms play a key role in the carbon (C) cycle through soil organic matter (SOM). The rate of SOM mineralization, the influence of abiotic factors on this rate and the potential behaviour of SOM are of particular interest in the northern Antarctic Peninsula and offshore islands. This is one of the most rapidly warming regions on Earth with numerous ice-free areas, some with abundant wildlife and with the greatest known soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in Antarctica.

Association Between Vitamin D and Adrenal Parameters with Metabolic and Inflammatory Markers in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Vitamin D deficiency has been related with metabolic alterations in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). As well, hyperactivation of adrenal axis can be programmed early in life and could be related later with PCOS development. Our aim was to establish the relationship between vitamin D and adrenal parameters with metabolic alterations and inflammation markers in PCOS.

A trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase enhances anaerobic germination tolerance in rice.

Global socioeconomic developments create strong incentives for farmers to shift from transplanted to direct-seeded rice (DSR) as a means of intensification and economization(1). Rice production must increase to ensure food security(2) and the bulk of this increase will have to be achieved through intensification of cultivation, because expansion of cultivated areas is reaching sustainable limits(3). Anaerobic germination tolerance, which enables uniform germination and seedling establishment under submergence(4), is a key trait for the development of tropical DSR varieties(5,6).

Monitoring of the mercury mining site Almadén implementing remote sensing technologies.

The Almadén area in Spain has a long history of mercury mining with prolonged human-induced activities that are related to mineral extraction and metallurgical processes before the closure of the mines and a more recent post period dominated by projects that reclaim the mine dumps and tailings and recuperating the entire mining area. Furthermore, socio-economic alternatives such as crop cultivation, livestock breeding and tourism are increasing in the area. Up till now, only scattered information on these activities is available from specific studies.

Effects of online palliative care training on knowledge, attitude and satisfaction of primary care physicians.

Background: The Spanish Palliative Care Strategy recommends an intermediate level of training for primary care physicians in order to provide them with knowledge and skills. Most of the training involves face-to-face courses but increasing pressures on physicians have resulted in fewer opportunities for provision of and attendance to this type of training. The effectiveness of on-line continuing medical education in terms of its impact on clinical practice has been scarcely studied.

Quality of life among women recently diagnosed with invasive breast cancer: the Pathways Study.

Few studies have assessed quality of life (QOL) of women diagnosed with breast cancer within the first few weeks of their initial diagnosis. We describe QOL among 950 women recently diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Starting in January 2006, we invited women aged > or =21 years who were diagnosed with first primary invasive breast cancer within Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) to enroll in the Pathways Study, a prospective study of breast cancer survivorship.

Chemotherapy versus best supportive care for extensive small cell lung cancer.

Background: Combination chemotherapy has been the mainstay of treatment for extensive stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) over the last 25 years even though it only gives a short prolongation in median survival time. The main goal for these patients, if their survival prognosis is limited, should be adequate palliation with the aim of improving their quality of life.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of chemotherapy in extensive SCLC compared with best supportive care (BSC) or placebo treatment.

Uranium isotopic distribution in the mineral phases of granitic fracture fillings by a sequential extraction procedure.

In order to study the recent rock-water interaction processes in the E1 Berrocal site, a sequential leaching method has been applied to granitic fracture fillings to obtain the U isotopic distribution in the mineral phases of these samples. Based on the mineralogical composition of these materials, six dissolution steps have been chosen to extract U as exchangeable cation, from carbonates, amorphous Fe-oxyhydroxides, labile resistates and highly insoluble resistates. In this way, the processes involved in the rock-water interaction phenomena, mainly dissolution, precipitation, coprecipitation and adsorption can be distinguished and even approximately dated.