Micronutrient dose response (MiNDR) study among women of reproductive age and pregnant women in rural Bangladesh: study protocol for double-blind, randomised, controlled trials.

Introduction: Optimising the micronutrient status of women before and during reproduction confers benefits to them and their offspring. Antenatal multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS), given as a daily tablet with nutrients at ~1 recommended dietary allowance (RDA) or adequate intake (AI) reduces adverse birth outcomes. However, at this dosage, MMS may not fully address micronutrient deficiencies in settings with chronically inadequate diets and infection.

Impacts of hazardous noise levels on hearing loss and tinnitus in dental professionals.

Background: Hazardous noise exposure is an important health concern in many workplaces and is one of the most common work-related injuries in the United States. Dental professionals are frequently exposed to high levels of occupational noise in their daily work environment. This noise is generated by various dental handpieces such as drills, suctions, and ultrasonic scalers.

Detection of Clinically Relevant Monogenic Copy-Number Variants by a Comprehensive Genome-Wide Microarray with Exonic Coverage.

Background: Disease-causing copy-number variants (CNVs) often encompass contiguous genes and can be detected using chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA). Conversely, CNVs affecting single disease-causing genes have historically been challenging to detect due to their small sizes.

Methods: A custom comprehensive CMA (Baylor College of Medicine - BCM v11.

Neoadjuvant atezolizumab + chemotherapy for resectable NSCLC: 3-year clinical update of phase II clinical trial results and translational findings.

Introduction: Neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy has achieved overall survival (OS) benefit for patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, we present outcomes after 3 years of follow-up from the first reported study of neoadjuvant atezolizumab+chemotherapy.

Methods: This open-label, multicenter single-arm investigator-initiated phase II study conducted at three US hospitals tested up to four cycles of atezolizumab, carboplatin, and nab-paclitaxel prior to surgery.

Transitions between cooperative and crowding-dominated collective motion in non-jammed MDCK monolayers.

Transitions between solid-like and fluid-like states in living tissues have been found in steps of embryonic development and in stages of disease progression. Our current understanding of these transitions has been guided by experimental and theoretical investigations focused on how motion becomes arrested with increased mechanical coupling between cells, typically as a function of packing density or cell cohesiveness. However, cells actively respond to externally applied forces by contracting after a time delay, so it is possible that at some packing densities or levels of cell cohesiveness, mechanical coupling stimulates cell motion instead of suppressing it.

Outcome and management of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who achieved a complete response to immunotherapy-based systemic therapy.

Background And Aims: The outcome of patients with HCC who achieved complete response (CR) to immune-checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based systemic therapies is unclear.

Approach And Results: Retrospective study of patients with HCC who had CR according to modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (CR-mRECIST) to ICI-based systemic therapies from 28 centers in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Of 3933 patients with HCC treated with ICI-based noncurative systemic therapies, 174 (4.

Brief Report: Phase II Clinical Trial of Atezolizumab in Advanced Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer Patients Previously Treated With PD-1-Directed Therapy.

Background:: Prospective data of sequencing PD-L1 inhibition after PD-1 inhibition is limited in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We report a phase II clinical trial of atezolizumab following PD-1 directed therapy (NCT03014648).

Methods:: Previously treated advanced NSCLC patients were enrolled in cohorts based on response to prior nivolumab or pembrolizumab therapy; progressive disease (Cohort 1); stable disease (Cohort 2), or partial or complete response (Cohort 3).

Exposure to air pollutants and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis measured by magnetic resonance imaging: A cross-sectional analysis.

Objectives: Long-term exposure to air pollution has been associated with higher risk of cardiovascular mortality. Less is known about the association of air pollution with initial development of cardiovascular disease. Herein, the association between low-level exposure to air pollutants and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis in adults without known clinical cardiovascular disease was investigated.

Impact of Maternal Leaf Supplementation on Milk and Serum Vitamin A and Carotenoid Concentrations in a Cohort of Breastfeeding Kenyan Women and Their Infants.

Childhood vitamin A deficiency leads to increased morbidity and mortality. Human milk is the only source of vitamin A for exclusively breastfed infants. Dried leaf powder (moringa) is a good food source of provitamin A and other carotenoids.

Efficacy, safety and differential outcomes of immune-chemotherapy with gemcitabine, cisplatin and durvalumab in patients with biliary tract cancers: A multicenter real world cohort.

Background: Combined Immuno-chemotherapy consisting of gemcitabine, cisplatin and the programmed death-ligand one inhibitor durvalumab (GCD) is the new standard of care for patients with biliary tract cancers (BTC) based on positive results of the TOPAZ-1 study.

Objective: We here evaluated the efficacy and safety of GCD for BTC in a German multicenter real-world patient cohort.

Methods: Patients with BTC treated with GCD from 9 German centers were included.

Comparative analysis of in situ and ex situ postmortem brain MRI: Evaluating volumetry, DTI, and relaxometry.

Purpose: To compare postmortem in situ with ex situ MRI parameters, including volumetry, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and relaxometry for assessing methodology-induced alterations, which is a crucial prerequisite when performing MRI biomarker validation.

Methods: MRI whole-brain scans of five deceased patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis were performed at 3 T. In situ scans were conducted within 32 h after death (SD 18 h), and ex situ scans after brain extraction and 3 months of formalin fixation.

Efficacy and safety of palliative treatment in patients with autoimmune liver disease-associated hepatocellular carcinoma.

Introduction And Objectives: Autoimmune liver diseases (AILD) are rare causes hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and data on the efficacy and tolerability of anti-tumor therapies are scarce. This pan-European study aimed to assess outcomes in AILD-HCC patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) or transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) compared with patients with more common HCC etiologies, including viral, alcoholic or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Materials And Methods: 107 patients with HCC-AILD (AIH:55; PBC:52) treated at 13 European centres between 1996 and 2020 were included.

Radiofrequency ablation via catheter and transpapillary access in patients with cholangiocarcinoma (ACTICCA-2 trial) - a multicenter, randomized, controlled, open-label investigator-initiated trial.

Background: Despite the recent advances in cancer treatment, the therapeutic options for patients with biliary tract cancer are still very limited and the prognosis very poor. More than 50% of newly diagnosed patients with biliary tract cancer are not amenable to curative surgical treatment and thus treated with palliative systemic treatment. Malignant bile duct obstructions in patients with perihilar and/or ductal cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) represents one of the most important challenges in the management of these patients, owning to the risk represented by developing life-threatening cholangitis which, in turn, limits the use of systemic treatment.

An Early Gestation Plasma Inflammasome in Rural Bangladeshi Women.

Circulating α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are commonly measured to assess inflammation, but these biomarkers fail to reveal the complex molecular biology of inflammation. We mined the maternal plasma proteome to detect proteins that covary with AGP and CRP. In 435 gravida predominantly in <12-week gestation, we correlated the relative quantification of plasma proteins assessed via a multiplexed aptamer assay (SOMAScan) with AGP and CRP, quantified by immunoassay.

Immunotherapy vs Best Supportive Care for Patients With Hepatocellular Cancer With Child-Pugh B Dysfunction.

Importance: Whether patients with Child-Pugh class B (CP-B) cancer with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) benefit from active anticancer treatment vs best supportive care (BSC) is debated.

Objective: To evaluate the association of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based therapies vs BSC with overall survival (OS) of patients with uHCC and CP-B liver dysfunction.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective, multicenter, international clinical case series examined data of patients with CP-B with uHCC who were receiving first-line ICI-based regimens from September 2017 to December 2022 whose data were extracted from an international consortium and compared with a cohort of patients with CP-B receiving BSC.

Effects of aging on diaphragm hyperemia and blood flow distribution in male and female Fischer 344 rats.

Aging is associated with inspiratory muscle dysfunction; however, the impact of aging on diaphragm blood flow (BF) regulation, and whether sex differences exist, is unknown. We tested the hypotheses in young animals that diaphragm BF and vascular conductance (VC) would be greater in females and that aging would decrease the diaphragm's ability to increase BF with contractions. Young (4-6 mo) and old (22-24 mo) Fischer 344 rats were divided into four groups: young female (YF, = 7), young male (YM, = 8), old female (OF, = 9), and old male (OM, = 9).

New Generation Self-Replicating RNA Vaccines Derived from Pestivirus Genome.

While mRNA vaccines have shown their worth, they have the same failing as inactivated vaccines, namely they have limited half-life, are non-replicating, and therefore limited to the size of the vaccine payload for the amount of material translated. New advances averting these problems are combining replicon RNA (RepRNA) technology with nanotechnology. RepRNA are large self-replicating RNA molecules (typically 12-15 kb) derived from viral genomes defective in at least one essential structural protein gene.