Immunogenicity of dupilumab in adult and pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis.

Background: Development of anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) and neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) to monoclonal antibodies may adversely impact pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and/or safety.

Objective: To describe incidence, titer, and persistence of dupilumab ADAs and NAbs, and their effects on pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD).

Methods: This analysis included seven phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled (N=2,992) and two long-term open-label extension (N=2,287) trials of subcutaneous dupilumab in adults and pediatric patients with moderate-to-severe AD.

RCAN1.4 regulates tumor cell engraftment and invasion in a thyroid cancer to lung metastasis-on-a-chip microphysiological system.

Progressive metastasis is the primary cause of cancer-related deaths. It has been recognized that many cancers are characterized by long periods of stability followed by subsequent progression. Genes termed metastasis progression suppressors (MPS) are functional gatekeepers of this process, and their loss leads to late-stage progression.

Treatment and Diagnostic Approach for Lhermitte-Duclos Disease and Suspected Cowden Syndrome.

Lhermitte-Duclos disease (LDD) is a rare entity, which may or may not be associated with Cowden syndrome (CS). The authors present a 26-year-old male with a history of emergency treatment due to acute obstructive hydrocephalus and apparent Chiari malformation. In posterior evaluation, mild cerebellar symptoms, mucocutaneous lesions, and a left hemispheric cerebellar lesion were evident.

Fish responses to underwater sounds depend on auditory adaptations: An experimental test of the effect of motorboat sounds on the fish community of a large fluvial lake.

Freshwater fishes exhibit a wide range of auditory adaptations and capabilities, which are assumed to help them navigate their environment, avoid predators, and find potential mates. Yet, we know very little about how freshwater environments sound to fish, or how fish with different auditory adaptations respond to different soundscapes. We first compiled data on fish hearing acuity and adaptations and provided a portrait of how anthropogenic sounds compare to natural sounds in different freshwater soundscapes.

Bioengineered in vitro three-dimensional tumor models in endocrine cancers.

Abstract: Endocrine tumors are a heterogeneous cluster of malignancies that originate from cells that can secrete hormones. Examples include, but are not limited to, thyroid cancer, adrenocortical carcinoma, and neuroendocrine tumors. Many endocrine tumors are relatively slow to proliferate, and as such, they often do not respond well to common antiproliferative chemotherapies.

A 3D adrenocortical carcinoma tumor platform for preclinical modeling of drug response and matrix metalloproteinase activity.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) has a poor prognosis, and no new drugs have been identified in decades. The absence of drug development can partly be attributed to a lack of preclinical models. Both animal models and 2D cell cultures of ACC fail to accurately mimic the disease, as animal physiology is inherently different than humans, and 2D cultures fail to represent the crucial 3D architecture.

Dupilumab Treatment Leads to Rapid and Consistent Improvement of Atopic Dermatitis in All Anatomical Regions in Patients Aged 6 Months to 5 Years.

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is heterogeneous in distribution pattern and clinical features. This analysis assessed the effect of dupilumab on the extent and severity of AD across various signs (erythema, edema/papulation, excoriation, lichenification) in different anatomical regions (head and neck, trunk, upper extremities, lower extremities) in patients aged 6 months to 5 years.

Methods: In LIBERTY AD PRESCHOOL, a double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III clinical trial, children aged 6 months to 5 years with moderate-to-severe AD were randomized 1:1 to subcutaneous dupilumab or placebo with concomitant low-potency topical corticosteroids (TCS) every 4 weeks for 16 weeks.

Surgical Treatment of a Supratentorial Extraventricular Ependymoma: A Case Report.

Supratentorial extraventricular ependymomas (STEE) are very rare primary tumors of the central nervous system (CNS). A 19-year-old man complained of headache, hemiparesis and seizures and was admitted to our hospital. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a right frontal intra-axial lesion.

A 3D adrenocortical carcinoma tumor platform for preclinical modeling of drug response and matrix metalloproteinase activity.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) has a poor prognosis, and no new drugs have been identified in decades. The absence of drug development can partly be attributed to a lack of preclinical models. Both animal models and 2D cell cultures of ACC fail to accurately mimic the disease, as animal physiology is inherently different than humans, and 2D cultures fail to represent the crucial 3D architecture.

Novel coronavirus, novel faculty development programs: rapid transition to eLearning during the pandemic.

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a rapid and massive transition to online education. We describe the response of our Office of Faculty Development at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC EP) to this unprecedented challenge during and after this post-pandemic crisis. The initiatives for emergency transition to eLearning and faculty development described in this paper may serve as a model for other academic health centers, schools, colleges and universities.

Predicting cyanobacterial biovolume from water temperature and conductivity using a Bayesian compound Poisson-Gamma model.

Eutrophication and climate change scenarios engender the need to develop good predictive models for harmful cyanobacterial blooms (CyanoHABs). Nevertheless, modeling cyanobacterial biomass is a challenging task due to strongly skewed distributions that include many absences as well as extreme values (dense blooms). Most modeling approaches alter the natural distribution of the data by splitting them into zeros (absences) and positive values, assuming that different processes underlie these two components.

Nrf2-related gene expression is impaired during a glucose challenge in type II diabetic rat hearts.

Diabetic hearts are susceptible to damage from inappropriate activation of the renin angiotensin system (RAS) and hyperglycemic events both of which contribute to increased oxidant production. Prolonged elevation of oxidants impairs mitochondrial enzyme function, further contributing to metabolic derangement. Nuclear factor erythriod-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) induces antioxidant genes including those for glutathione (GSH) synthesis following translocation to the nucleus.

Satisfaction and perceived effectiveness in patients on subcutaneous immunotherapy with a high-dose hypoallergenic pollen extract.

This study was designed to determine the level of satisfaction, tolerance and perceived effectiveness by patients in the first pollen season after starting treatment with Alergovit(®). For this purpose, a nationwide, retrospective, multicentre and cross-sectional observational study was carried on 256 patients. Perceived effectiveness by the patients was measured using a visual analogue scale and was clinically significant in 92.

Testing the influence of environmental heterogeneity on fish species richness in two biogeographic provinces.

Environmental homogenization in coastal ecosystems impacted by human activities may be an important factor explaining the observed decline in fish species richness. We used fish community data (>200 species) from extensive surveys conducted in two biogeographic provinces (extent >1,000 km) in North America to quantify the relationship between fish species richness and local (grain <10 km(2)) environmental heterogeneity. Our analyses are based on samples collected at nearly 800 stations over a period of five years.

Gene silencing of SOCS3 by siRNA intranasal delivery inhibits asthma phenotype in mice.

Suppresors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins regulate cytokine responses and control immune balance. Several studies have confirmed that SOCS3 is increased in asthmatic patients, and SOCS3 expression is correlated with disease severity. The objective of this study was to evaluate if delivering of SOCS3 short interfering RNA (siRNA) intranasally in lungs could be a good therapeutic approach in an asthma chronic mouse model.

Aerosol species concentrations and source apportionment of ammonia at Rocky Mountain National Park.

Changes in ecosystem function at Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) are occurring because of emissions of nitrogen and sulfate species along the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, as well as sources farther east and west. The nitrogen compounds include both oxidized and reduced nitrogen. A year-long monitoring program of various oxidized and reduced nitrogen species was initiated to better understand their origins as well as the complex chemistry occurring during transport from source to receptor.

Fish dispersal in fragmented landscapes: a modeling framework for quantifying the permeability of structural barriers.

Dispersal is a key determinant of the spatial distribution and abundance of populations, but human-made fragmentation can create barriers that hinder dispersal and reduce population viability. This study presents a modeling framework based on dispersal kernels (modified Laplace distributions) that describe stream fish dispersal in the presence of obstacles to passage. We used mark-recapture trials to quantify summer dispersal of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in four streams crossed by a highway.

Incorporating temporally dynamic baselines in isotopic mixing models.

Stable isotopes (particularly C and N) are widely used to make inferences regarding food web structure and the phenology of consumer diet shifts, applications that require accurate isotopic characterization of trophic resources to avoid biased inferences of feeding relationships. For example, most isotope mixing models require that endmembers be adequately represented by a single probability distribution; yet, there is mounting evidence that the isotopic composition of aquatic organisms often used as mixing model endmembers can change over periods of weeks to months. A review of the literature indicated that the delta13C values of five aquatic primary consumer taxa, commonly used as proxies of carbon production sources (i.

Variability and directionality of temporal changes in δ(13)C and δ (15)N of aquatic invertebrate primary consumers.

Seasonal oscillations in the carbon (δ(13)C) and nitrogen (δ(15)N) isotope signatures of aquatic algae can cause seasonal enrichment-depletion cycles in the isotopic composition of planktonic invertebrates (e.g., copepods).