A Review of Telomere Attrition in Cancer and Aging: Current Molecular Insights and Future Therapeutic Approaches.

Background/objectives: As cells divide, telomeres shorten through a phenomenon known as telomere attrition, which leads to unavoidable senescence of cells. Unprotected DNA exponentially increases the odds of mutations, which can evolve into premature aging disorders and tumorigenesis. There has been growing academic and clinical interest in exploring this duality and developing optimal therapeutic strategies to combat telomere attrition in aging and cellular immortality in cancer.

Cellular immunity analysis by a modular acoustofluidic platform: CIAMAP.

The study of molecular mechanisms at the single-cell level holds immense potential for enhancing immunotherapy and understanding neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases by identifying previously concealed pathways within a diverse range of paired cells. However, existing single-cell pairing platforms have limitations in low pairing efficiency, complex manual operation procedures, and single-use functionality. Here, we report a multiparametric cellular immunity analysis by a modular acoustofluidic platform: CIAMAP.

Evaluation of the CKD-EPI 2021 creatinine equation using laboratory data: Considerations for practice changes among clinical laboratories in British Columbia, Canada.

Introduction: Clinical laboratories in British Columbia, Canada implemented the CKD-EPI 2009 equation without the race variable for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) reporting since 2014. As more clinical laboratories adopt the new CKD-EPI 2021 equation, the study aims to compare these two race-free CKD-EPI eGFR equations using the laboratory data from a large tertiary hospital in BC and evaluate the impact on reclassification of eGFR category.

Methods: Serum/plasma creatinine results and demographic data were collected from Vancouver General Hospital laboratory.

Rationale and design of the preserved versus reduced ejection fraction biomarker registry and precision medicine database for ambulatory patients with heart failure (PREFER-HF) study.

Introduction: Patients with heart failure (HF) are classically categorised by left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Efforts to predict outcomes and response to specific therapy among LVEF-based groups may be suboptimal, in part due to the underlying heterogeneity within clinical HF phenotypes. A multidimensional characterisation of ambulatory patients with and without HF across LVEF groups is needed to better understand and manage patients with HF in a more precise manner.

Randomized controlled trial of fractionated laser resurfacing on aged skin as prophylaxis against actinic neoplasia.

BACKGROUNDThe loss of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) expression in senescent dermal fibroblasts during aging is associated with an increased risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). We tested how IGF-1 signaling can influence photocarcinogenesis during chronic UVB exposure to determine if fractionated laser resurfacing (FLR) of aged skin, which upregulates dermal IGF-1 levels, can prevent the occurrence of actinic keratosis (AK) and NMSC.METHODSA human skin/immunodeficient mouse xenografting model was used to test the effects of a small molecule inhibitor of the IGF-1 receptor on chronic UVB radiation.

Single Ablative Fractional Resurfacing Laser Treatment For Forearm Actinic Keratoses: 6-Month Follow-Up Data From An Intrapatient Comparison Between Treated and Untreated Sites.

Background And Objectives: Actinic keratoses (AK) are common pre-cancerous lesions, which are associated with ultraviolet light exposure and aging. Wounding therapies such as fractionated laser resurfacing (FLR) have been previously demonstrated to effectively treat facial AK. However, the effectiveness of FLR on other sites commonly afflicted with AK has not been studied in detail.

Radiation exposure in the treatment of pediatric supracondylar humerus fractures.

Purpose: To determine the factors that influence radiation exposure during repair of supracondylar humerus fractures.

Methods: Medical records of almost 200 children with supracondylar fractures were retrospectively analyzed for variables correlated with fluoroscopy time and radiation dose as measures of radiation exposure.

Results: There was no statistically significant difference in fluoroscopy time (27 vs.

Energy-Mediated Machinery Drives Cellular Mechanical Allostasis.

Allostasis is a fundamental biological process through which living organisms achieve stability via physiological or behavioral changes to protect against internal and external stresses, and ultimately better adapt to the local environment. However, an full understanding of cellular-level allostasis is far from developed. By employing an integrated micromechanical tool capable of applying controlled mechanical stress on an individual cell and simultaneously reporting dynamic information of subcellular mechanics, individual cell allostasis is observed to occur through a biphasic process; cellular mechanics tends to restore to a stable state through a mechanoadaptative process with excitative biophysical activity followed by a decaying adaptive phase.

Propyl-5-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazole-4-carbodithioate (HMPC): a new bacteriostatic agent against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

The emergence of Staphylococcus aureus strains resistant to 'last resort' antibiotics compels the development of new antimicrobials against this important human pathogen. We found that propyl 5-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazole-4-carbodithioate (HMPC) shows bacteriostatic activity against S. aureus (MIC = 4 μg/ml) and rescues Caenorhabditis elegans from S.

Determinants of Course Grades in Allied Health Sciences Programs.

Past research has shown that there is a pattern of systematic grade inflation in higher education in the U.S. As a result, it is difficult for prospective employers and graduate school admission directors to distinguish bright candidates when recruiting new graduates.

Recommending teams promotes prosocial lending in online microfinance.

This paper reports the results of a large-scale field experiment designed to test the hypothesis that group membership can increase participation and prosocial lending for an online crowdlending community, Kiva. The experiment uses variations on a simple email manipulation to encourage Kiva members to join a lending team, testing which types of team recommendation emails are most likely to get members to join teams as well as the subsequent impact on lending. We find that emails do increase the likelihood that a lender joins a team, and that joining a team increases lending in a short window (1 wk) following our intervention.

Raf-kinase inhibitor GW5074 shows antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and potentiates the activity of gentamicin.

Aim: Increasing antimicrobial resistance has compromised the effectiveness of many antibiotics, including those used to treat staphylococcal infections like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The development of combination therapies, where antimicrobial agents are used with compounds that inhibit resistance pathways is a promising strategy. Results/methodology: The Raf kinase inhibitor GW5074 exhibited selective in vitro activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including clinical isolates of S.

Bead-based multianalyte flow immunoassays: the cytometric bead array system.

Analytical cytometry has significant potential beyond cellular analysis. The inherent capability of flow cytometers to efficiently discriminate between uniformly sized particles based on their intrinsic properties provides the foundation for multiplex bead assays. The technology can be exploited in designing immunoassays, Western blot-like antibody assays, and nucleic acid hybridization assays.

Sandwich type ELISA and a fluorescent cytometric microbead assay for quantitative determination of hepatitis B virus X antigen level in human sera.

The hepatitis B virus X protein (HBxAg) is responsible for severe complications of HBV infections including primary hepatocellular carcinoma. A sandwich type ELISA and a flow cytometric microbead assay for quantitative determination of serum levels of Hbx-Ag are introduced. We have previously developed monoclonal antibody families against well-conserved epitopes on HbxAg, characterized by different immunohistochemical and immunoserological techniques.

A new simple whole blood flow cytometry-based method for simultaneous identification of activated cells and quantitative evaluation of cytokines released during activation.

The multiple cellular and soluble elements of the immune system respond in a coordinated way, orchestrated by cytokines, to preserve the integrity of the organism. In this study, we describe a new and unique whole blood method that, with minimal sample manipulation, allows an overall evaluation of immune responses by simultaneously measuring cell activation and cytokine secretion. The identification of cells actively secreting cytokines is based on the stabilization of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) at the cell surface through the use of a specific inhibitor of the TNFalpha-converting enzyme.

Cytometric bead array: a multiplexed assay platform with applications in various areas of biology.

The introduction of flow cytometric bead-based technology has added a new approach for investigators to simultaneously measure multiple analytes in biological and environmental samples. This new technology allows for (1) evaluation of multiple analytes in a single sample; (2) utilization of minimal sample volumes to glean data; (3) reproducibility and results comparative with previous experiments; (4) direct comparison with existing assays; and (5) a more rapid evaluation of multiple samples in a single platform. The cytometric bead array (CBA) system enables simultaneous measurement of multiple analytes in sample volumes too small for traditional immunoassays.