Publications by authors named "S-R Lin"
Background: Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) sequence analysis to screen for fetal aneuploidy can incidentally detect maternal cancer. Additional data are needed to identify DNA-sequencing patterns and other biomarkers that can identify pregnant persons who are most likely to have cancer and to determine the best approach for follow-up.
Methods: In this ongoing study we performed cancer screening in pregnant or postpartum persons who did not perceive signs or symptoms of cancer but received unusual clinical cfDNA-sequencing results or results that were nonreportable (i.
An outbreak of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19 pandemic, has resulted in over 7 million confirmed deaths. In addition to severe respiratory and systematic symptoms, several comorbidities increase the risk of fatal outcomes. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on pre-existing conditions in patients, such as cancer and other infectious diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Hypertension or elevated blood pressure (BP) is a worldwide clinical challenge and the leading primary risk factor for kidney dysfunctions, heart failure, and cerebrovascular disease. The kidney is a central regulator of BP by maintaining sodium-water balance. Multiple genome-wide association studies revealed that BP is a heritable quantitative trait, modulated by several genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors.
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- * In the trial with 30 patients, the results showed a median progression-free survival of 4.1 months and an overall survival of 7.4 months, though the primary survival endpoint was not achieved.
- * Most patients tolerated the treatment well, with a notable 24-month survival rate of 23.3%, which was higher than previously reported for this combination.
Background: Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) leads to impaired myocardial blood flow (MBF), increasing the risk of cardiovascular death or retransplant among heart transplantation (HT) recipients. Data on elevation in donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) and CAV in the absence of rejection are mixed. We sought to test the hypothesis that CAV with reduced MBF (RMBF) is associated with elevated dd-cfDNA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 63-year-old man, with a history of melanoma and basal cell carcinoma, presented with progressive right-sided facial numbness, vertical diplopia, and headache. Brain MRI revealed leptomeningeal enhancement of multiple cranial nerves and an enhancing mass-like lesion along the anterolateral surface of the pons and midbrain. Subsequent brain biopsy demonstrated the final diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssessment of immune correlates of severe COVID-19 has been hampered by the low numbers of severe cases in COVID-19 vaccine efficacy (VE) trials. We assess neutralizing and binding antibody levels at 4 weeks post-Ad26.COV2.
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- The study examines the potential of fatty acid binding protein 1 (FABP1) as a serum biomarker for liver injury in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients.
- Research was conducted on 293 patients, showing that FABP1 levels in serum were significantly higher in those with chronic HBV-related diseases compared to healthy controls, especially as the disease progressed.
- A notable negative correlation was found between FABP1 expression and liver inflammation grades, indicating its potential role in monitoring disease progression, though no correlation with fibrosis was observed.
Article Synopsis
- - Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease results from mutations in NPC1 or NPC2 genes, leading to the accumulation of cholesterol in late endosomes/lysosomes, and researchers are exploring LBPA (lysobisphosphatidic acid) as a therapeutic agent to reduce this accumulation.
- - Studies indicate that different stereoisomers of LBPA are effective in reducing cholesterol levels in NPC1-deficient human fibroblast cells, with the presence of an 18:1 acyl chain being particularly significant for enhancing cholesterol clearance.
- - Further experiments suggest that while phosphatidylglycerol (PG) can also reduce cholesterol, it does not convert to LBPA effectively, highlighting that LBPA itself is essential for promoting cholesterol
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to identify which imaging features can best predict poststroke deficits by analyzing data from three different patient groups who experienced acute strokes.
- It was found that models trained on small datasets performed well within their own dataset but failed to generalize to new patient data; however, using larger and multicenter datasets significantly improved predictive performance.
- Including structural and functional disconnection in the models yielded better predictions of stroke severity compared to relying solely on lesion volume or location.
Motivation: Functional Annotation of genomic Variants Online Resources (FAVOR) offers multi-faceted, whole genome variant functional annotations, which is essential for Whole Genome and Exome Sequencing (WGS/WES) analysis and the functional prioritization of disease-associated variants. A versatile chatbot designed to facilitate informative interpretation and interactive, user-centric summary of the whole genome variant functional annotation data in the FAVOR database is needed.
Results: We have developed FAVOR-GPT, a generative natural language interface powered by integrating large language models (LLMs) and FAVOR.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive breast cancer subtype and has the highest rate of recurrence. The predominant standard of care for advanced TNBC is systemic chemotherapy with or without immunotherapy; however, responses are typically short lived. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop more effective treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The challenge of preventing in-patient falls remains one of the most critical concerns in health care.
Objective: This study aims to investigate the effect of an integrated Internet of Things (IoT) smart patient care system on fall prevention.
Methods: A quasi-experimental study design is used.
Article Synopsis
- - Pancreatic cancer is a tough-to-treat disease with only a 13% survival rate over five years, and current immunotherapies like CAR T cells aren't very effective for it.
- - Researchers identified Muc16CD as a new target (tumor-associated antigen) that CAR T cells can attack, which is present in pancreatic tumors.
- - Muc16CD-targeted CAR T cells show promise in laboratory models, effectively recognizing pancreatic tumor cells and improving tumor control and survival rates.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how corneal wound healing works by analyzing corneal limbal epithelial cell activities in cynomolgus monkeys through single-cell RNA sequencing.
- Researchers collected corneal limbal tissues at uninjured, 1-day, and 3-day healing stages to understand the transcriptional changes and cell migration involved in healing.
- The findings reveal nine distinct cell clusters, emphasizing the roles of different epithelial cells in healing, particularly highlighting the significance of transit amplifying cells in early healing through specific gene activation.
Microsatellite instability high (MSI-H) and mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) tumor status have been demonstrated to predict patient response to immunotherapies. We developed and validated a next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based companion diagnostic (CDx) to detect MSI-H solid tumors via a comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) assay, FoundationOne®CDx (F1CDx). To determine MSI status, F1CDx calculates the fraction of unstable microsatellite loci across >2000 loci using a fraction-based (FB) analysis.
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- Scientists discovered five new cycloheptapeptides, named phakefusins A-E, from the marine sponge Phakellia fusca using a probe-based molecular networking approach.
- Two of these compounds feature unique nonproteinogenic amino acids, while others have rare structural components such as methionine sulfoxide and glutamic acid ethyl ester.
- The compounds were tested for their biological activities, with compound 1 showing moderate antitumor effects and compounds 2-5 demonstrating antioxidant potential by enhancing certain protective enzyme levels.
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- Waste oyster shells (WOS) can be used as a sustainable alternative to traditional fine aggregates in concrete, addressing environmental concerns about river sand depletion and WOS disposal.
- Research predominantly focuses on the static properties of WOS concrete, while dynamic mechanical properties have been less explored.
- Testing showed that using up to 20% WOS improves concrete's dynamic performance, but using more than that results in worse properties due to increased air content affecting water absorption.
Article Synopsis
- The study evaluates various deconvolution methods that estimate immune cell levels in tumor samples based on gene expression data during a DREAM Challenge.
- While many established methods perform adequately for most immune cell types, they struggle with accurately assessing all states of functional CD8+ T cells.
- Community-contributed methods, particularly a deep learning approach, have shown promising results and could enhance the development of deconvolution techniques, especially in identifying functional CD4+ T cell states.
Article Synopsis
- Ultra high dose rate (UHDR) radiotherapy, specifically conformal FLASH proton therapy, offers potential benefits by minimizing damage to healthy tissue while effectively targeting tumors.
- Clinical application of conformal FLASH has faced challenges, particularly concerning the quality assurance of measuring dose rate (DR) and linear energy transfer (LET).
- The study successfully validated these parameters, demonstrating strong agreement between experimental data and Monte Carlo simulations, confirming the efficacy of the UHDR treatment approach.
Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) are the main active components of Panax notoginseng. But after oral administration, they need to be converted into rare ginsenosides by human gut microbiota and gastric juice before they can be readily absorbed into the bloodstream and exert their effects. The sources of rare ginsenosides are extremely limited in P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The COMHON Index is an intensive-care-specific pressure injury risk assessment tool, which has demonstrated promising psychometric properties. It has been translated into Chinese Mandarin but requires inter-rater reliability testing and comparison to the standard care instrument (Braden Scale) before clinical use.
Objectives: This study aimed to test and compare the inter-rater reliability and convergent validity of the Chinese Mandarin versions of the COMHON Index and Braden Scale.
Article Synopsis
- This study investigates genetic variants linked to outer retinal tubulation (ORT) by analyzing the prevalence and clinical consequences of ORT in patients with inherited retinal diseases (IRDs).
- A cohort of 565 IRD patients underwent SD-OCT imaging, revealing that 104 exhibited ORT, primarily associated with specific genetic variants, especially in RPE-specific and some non-RPE-specific genes.
- The findings show a strong correlation between ORT presence and IRDs caused by RPE-specific and non-RPE-specific genes, while no cases of ORT were found in patients with photoreceptor-specific gene variants.
Article Synopsis
- The study explores how anti-PEG antibodies interact with PEGylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) and other liposomes, causing complement activation and drug release.
- Irinotecan liposomes (IL) and L-PLD, which have lower PEG content, showed less complement activation but still experienced destabilization by anti-PEG antibodies.
- Both anti-PEG IgG and IgM led to drug release and formation of different liposome structures, indicating that reducing PEG levels is not a reliable method to avoid destabilization by these antibodies in vivo.
Background: Fatigue is a common complaint among older adults with hearing loss. The impact of addressing hearing loss on fatigue symptoms has not been studied in a randomized controlled trial. In a secondary analysis of the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) study, we investigated the effect of hearing intervention versus health education control on 3-year change in fatigue in community-dwelling older adults with hearing loss.
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