Imaging Transgenic Nude Mice Expressing Spectrally-distinct Fluorescent Reporters Emitting From Blue to Far Red Light With One Instrument With Single-nanometer-tuning of Laser-excitation Fluorescence.

Background/aim: Transgenic nude mice expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP), red fluorescent protein (RFP), or cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) were previously developed by our laboratory, AntiCancer Inc. In the present study, we demonstrate imaging of the GFP, RFP, or CFP nude mice with single-nanometer-tuning laser fluorescence excitation with a single instrument.

Materials And Methods: Female transgenic C57/B6 nude GFP, RFP, and CFP mice aged six weeks were used.

Dengue vaccine acceptance and willingness to pay: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Dengue is the most important human vector-borne disease in terms of disease burden. A first dengue vaccine has recently been licenced, and others are in advanced stages of development. However, to date, none of these vaccines has achieved balanced efficacy and safety for all dengue serotypes.

Immune checkpoint blockade induces distinct alterations in the microenvironments of primary and metastatic brain tumors.

In comparison with responses in recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM), the intracranial response of brain metastases (BrM) to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is less well studied. Here, we present an integrated single-cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq) study of 19 ICB-naive and 9 ICB-treated BrM samples from our own and published data sets. We compared them with our previously published scRNA-Seq data from rGBM and found that ICB led to more prominent T cell infiltration into BrM than rGBM.

Tumor heterogeneity in VHL drives metastasis in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Loss of function of the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene is a hallmark of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). The importance of heterogeneity in the loss of this tumor suppressor has been under reported. To study the impact of intratumoral VHL heterogeneity observed in human ccRCC, we engineered VHL gene deletion in four RCC models, including a new primary tumor cell line derived from an aggressive metastatic case.

Effects of air pollution on restricted activity days: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The adverse effects of air pollution on human health include many diseases and health conditions associated with mortality, morbidity and disability. One example of these outcomes that can be translated into economic costs is the number of days of restricted activity. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of outdoor exposure to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 10 and 2.

Hair follicle associated pluripotent (HAP) stem cells jump from transplanted whiskers to pelage follicles and stimulate hair growth.

Stimulation of hair growth in hair loss has been a difficult goal to achieve. Hair follicle-associated pluripotent (HAP) stem cells express nestin and have been shown to differentiate to multiple cell types including keratinocytes, neurons, beating cardiac muscles and numerous other cell types. HAP stem cells originate in the bulge area of the hair follicle and have been shown to migrate within and outside the hair follicle.

Anatomical Variations of the Sciatic Nerve Exit from the Pelvis and Its Relationship with the Piriformis Muscle: A Cadaveric Study.

Background: The sciatic nerve (SN) is the widest nerve of the human body that exits the pelvis through the greater sciatic foramen, usually below the piriformis muscle (PM), and descends between the greater trochanter of the femur and ischial tuberosity of the pelvis to the knee. The aim of this paper is to examine and identify the SN variations in relation to the PM, its prevalence, pattern, and course.

Methods: A prospective-descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the frequency of anatomical variations in the exit of the SN in relation with the PM in 20 anatomical bodies (corpses) of both genders, in equal numbers.

Neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade induces T cell and cDC1 activation but fails to overcome the immunosuppressive tumor associated macrophages in recurrent glioblastoma.

Primary brain tumors, such as glioblastoma (GBM), are remarkably resistant to immunotherapy, even though pre-clinical models suggest effectiveness. To understand this better in patients, here we take advantage of our recent neoadjuvant treatment paradigm to map the infiltrating immune cell landscape of GBM and how this is altered following PD-1 checkpoint blockade using high dimensional proteomics, single cell transcriptomics, and quantitative multiplex immunofluorescence. Neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade increases T cell infiltration and the proportion of a progenitor exhausted population of T cells found within the tumor.

Short-term exposure to sulphur dioxide (SO) and all-cause and respiratory mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Many studies have assessed the harmful effects of ambient air pollution on human mortality, but the evidence needs further exploration, analysis, and refinement, given the large number of studies that have been published in recent years. The objective of this study was to evaluate all the available evidence of the effect of short-term exposure to ambient sulphur dioxide (SO) on all-cause and respiratory mortality.

Methods: Articles reporting observational epidemiological studies were included, comprising time-series and case-crossover designs.

The Racist Within.

This article demonstrates the author's psychoanalytic method of pursuing racism's various forms, functions, and locations, including within himself, a person of color. It argues that to disrupt racism on any level, we must realize the unconscious motivations every individual has to actively engage in racist ideology. This is due to racism's malevolent efficiency to articulate and structure experiences, such as threat and enjoyment, for both the individual and the group.

Short-term exposure to particulate matter (PM and PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO), and ozone (O) and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Air pollution is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Short-term exposure (from one hour to days) to selected air pollutants has been associated with human mortality. This systematic review was conducted to analyse the evidence on the effects of short-term exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less or equal than 10 and 2.

Peritoneal Metastases in a Patient-derived Orthotopic Xenograft (PDOX) Model of Colon Cancer Imaged Non-invasively Red Fluorescent Protein Labeled Stromal Cells.

Background/aim: Patient-derived orthotopic xenograft (PDOX) models have patient-like clinical features and may be imaged, in case of some cancers, by passaging of the tumors through transgenic nude mice expressing red-fluorescent protein (RFP) where they stably acquire RFP expressing stroma. The aim of the present study was to quantify red fluorescent area and intensity in colon-cancer peritoneal metastases in PDOX models in non-transgenic nude mice after passage in RFP transgenic nude mice by non-invasive external fluorescence imaging.

Materials And Methods: Tumor fragments originating from a colon cancer patient with peritoneal metastases were implanted in transgenic RFP nude mice.

Potential occurrence of Zika from subtropical to temperate Argentina considering the basic reproduction number (R0).

Objective: To assess the potential occurrence of Zika transmission throughout Argentina by the mosquito Aedes aegypti considering the basic reproduction number (R0).

Methods: A model originally developed for dengue was adapted for Zika. R0 was estimated as a function of seven parameters, three of them were considered temperature-dependent.

Estimation of expected dengue seroprevalence from passive epidemiological surveillance systems in selected areas of Argentina: A proxy to evaluate the applicability of dengue vaccination.

Background: Current recommendations about dengue vaccination by the World Health Organization depend on seroprevalence levels and serological status in populations and individuals. However, seroprevalence estimation may be difficult due to a diversity of factors. Thus, estimation through models using data from epidemiological surveillance systems could be an alternative procedure to achieve this goal.

Association of outdoor air pollution with the prevalence of asthma in children of Latin America and the Caribbean: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the association between asthma prevalence and outdoor air pollution in children in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Data Sources: We searched studies in global and regional databases: PubMed, Scopus, LILACS and SciELO.

Study Selection: Articles following a cross-sectional design, studying children from 0 to 18 years old, and comparing the prevalence of asthma in two or more areas of LAC countries with different air pollution levels were included.

Effect of outdoor air pollution on asthma exacerbations in children and adults: Systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis.

Background: Several observational studies have suggested that outdoor air pollution may induce or aggravate asthma. However, epidemiological results are inconclusive due to the presence of numerous moderators which influence this association. The goal of this study was to assess the relationship between outdoor air pollutants and moderate or severe asthma exacerbations in children and adults through a systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis.

Randomized sham-controlled trial evaluating efficacy and safety of endoscopic gastric plication for primary obesity: The ESSENTIAL trial.

Objective: Evaluate safety and efficacy of the pose™ procedure for obesity treatment.

Methods: Subjects with Class I to II obesity were randomized (2:1) to receive active or sham procedure, after each investigator performed unblinded lead-in cases. All subjects were provided low-intensity lifestyle therapy.

Tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R in combination with doxorubicin eradicate soft tissue sarcoma in a patient-derived orthotopic xenograft (PDOX) model.

A patient with high grade undifferentiated pleomorphic soft-tissue sarcoma from a striated muscle was grown orthotopically in the right biceps femoris muscle of mice to establish a patient-derived orthotopic xenograft (PDOX) model. Twenty PDOX mice were divided into 4 groups: G1, control without treatment; G2, Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium)A1-R administered by intratumoral (i.

Cost-utility analysis of dengue vaccination in a country with heterogeneous risk of dengue transmission.

Background: Dengue is one of the most important vector-borne diseases worldwide, and annually, nearly 390 million people are infected and 500,000 patients are hospitalized for severe dengue. Argentina has great variability in the risk of dengue transmission due to eco-climatic reasons. Currently no vaccines are available for dengue even though several vaccines are under development.

[Using Google Trends to estimate the incidence of influenza-like illness in Argentina].

The aim of this study was to find a model to estimate the incidence of influenza-like illness (ILI) from the Google Trends (GT) related to influenza. ILI surveillance data from 2012 through 2013 were obtained from the National Health Surveillance System, Argentina. Internet search data were downloaded from the GT search engine database using 6 influenza-related queries: flu, fever, cough, sore throat, paracetamol, and ibuprofen.

Assessing preoperative frailty utilizing validated geriatric mortality calculators and their association with postoperative hip fracture mortality risk.

Introduction: End-of-life surgical care is a major concern with a significant number of operations performed within the last year of life; surgery for hip fractures is a prime example. Unfortunately, no simple objective tool exists to assess life expectancy in the postoperative period. The goal of our study was to analyze 2 simple geriatric life expectancy calculators to compare with the current Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VASQIP) postoperative 30-day mortality calculator.

Color-coded imaging of spontaneous vessel anastomosis in vivo.

Vessel anastomosis is important in tumor angiogenesis as well as for vascularization therapy for ischemia and other diseases. We report here the development of a color-coded imaging model that can visualize the anastomosis between blood vessels of red fluorescent protein (RFP)-expressing vessels in vascularized Gelfoam® previously transplanted into RFP transgenic mice and then re-transplanted into nestin-driven green fluorescent protein (ND-GFP) mice where nascent blood vessels express GFP. Gelfoam® was initially transplanted subcutaneously in the flank of transgenic RFP nude mice.