Twin Research and the Arts: Interconnections / Twin Research: Twin Studies of Sexual Orientation; A Historical Biological Twin Gem; GWAS Approach to Who Has Twins / Newsworthy: Twins on College Campuses; 'Brainprint': Personal Identification by Brain Waves.

The interrelatedness between twin research and the arts is explored via a new play about a famous case. In the 1960s, identical twin David Bruce Reimer was accidentally castrated as an infant during circumcision to correct a urinary problem. The decision to raise him as a girl, and the consequences of that decision, are explored in the new theatrical production of Boy.

The incidence and worsening of newly diagnosed low back pain in a population of young male military recruits.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of referral to occupational health clinics and of consequent work absenteeism. There is lack of data concerning ages 18-21. The objective of our study was to evaluate the occurrence of newly diagnosed LBP and the recurrence and worsening of preexisting LBP in young male military recruits.

Safety and Efficacy of Durvalumab (MEDI4736), an Anti-Programmed Cell Death Ligand-1 Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor, in Patients With Advanced Urothelial Bladder Cancer.

Purpose: To investigate the safety and efficacy of durvalumab, a human monoclonal antibody that binds programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1), and the role of PD-L1 expression on clinical response in patients with advanced urothelial bladder cancer (UBC).

Methods: A phase 1/2 multicenter, open-label study is being conducted in patients with inoperable or metastatic solid tumors. We report here the results from the UBC expansion cohort.

Orbital complications associated with paranasal sinus infections - A 10-year experience in Israel.

Objective: Orbital involvement is the most common complication of sinus infections. The epidemiology of the disease is continuously changing in the antibiotic era.

Materials And Methods: Data on patients who were hospitalized due to acute sinusitis and orbital complications were retrospectively collected and analyzed from four medical centers in Israel during the years 2002-2012.

Randomized study comparing inflammatory response after tonsillectomy versus tonsillotomy.

Unlabelled: To determine if there was a difference in the inflammatory reaction after tonsil surgery with "traditional" techniques (tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy or TA) compared to partial intracapsular tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (PITA).

Design: Randomized, double-blind study.

Setting: tertiary care academic hospital.

Baseline trabecular bone and its relation to incident radiographic knee osteoarthritis and increase in joint space narrowing score: directional fractal signature analysis in the MOST study.

Purpose: To explore the association of baseline trabecular bone structure with incident tibiofemoral (TF) osteoarthritis (OA) and with increase in joint space narrowing (JSN) score.

Methods: The Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) includes subjects with or at risk for knee OA. Knee radiographs were scored for Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade and JSN at baseline, 30, 60 and 84 months.

Transgene Expression in Microalgae-From Tools to Applications.

Microalgae comprise a biodiverse group of photosynthetic organisms that reside in water sources and sediments. The green microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was adopted as a useful model organism for studying various physiological systems. Its ability to grow under both photosynthetic and heterotrophic conditions allows efficient growth of non-photosynthetic mutants, making Chlamydomonas a useful genetic tool to study photosynthesis.

Brazilian Twin Registry: A Bright Future for Twin Studies/Twin Research: Twin Study of Alcohol Consumption and Mortality; Oxygen Uptake in Adolescent Twins/In the News: Superfecundated Twins In Vietnam; Adolescent Twin Relations; Twin and Triplet Co-Workers; A Special Twin Ultrasound; Monozygotic Twins With Different Skin Color; Identical Twin Returns from Space.

The establishment of the Brazilian Twin Registry for the study of genetic, social, and cultural influences on behavior is one of eleven newly funded projects in the Department of Psychology at the University of São Paulo. These 11 interrelated projects form the core of the university's Center for Applied Research on Well-Being and Human Behavior. An overview of the planned twin research and activities to date is presented.

Case report: Lymphoma in a nasopharyngeal branchial cleft cyst.

Objective: Nasopharyngeal branchial cleft cysts are rare, and only case reports have been published. We present a patient whose nasopharyngeal cyst contained a malignant lymphoma, and we review previous reports of this condition.

Methods: Case report with a relevant literature review.

Faster FOLFOX: Oxaliplatin Can Be Safely Infused at a Rate of 1 mg/m2/min.

Purpose: Oxaliplatin at a dose of 85 mg/m(2) traditionally has been administered over 120 min in the standard FOLFOX (infusional fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) regimen. CapeOx (capecitabine plus oxaliplatin), in which the dose of oxaliplatin is 130 mg/m(2), has also been infused over 120 min. Maintenance of a prolonged infusion time has been largely based on the concern for a potential hypersensitivity reaction (HSR) if administered too quickly.

Muscle strength, physical performance and physical activity as predictors of future knee replacement: a prospective cohort study.

Objective: To investigate associations between lower levels of muscle strength, physical performance and physical activity and the risk of knee replacement (KR) in older adults with frequent knee pain.

Method: Participants from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) with knee pain on most of the past 30 days at baseline were included (n = 1257; mean (SD) age of 62.2 (8.

Characterisation and management of dermatologic adverse events to agents targeting the PD-1 receptor.

Background: Dermatologic adverse events (AEs) are some of the most frequently observed toxicities of immune-checkpoint inhibitor therapy, but they have received little attention. The drugs, pembrolizumab and nivolumab are recently approved inhibitors of the programmed death (PD)-1 receptor that have overlapping AE profiles however, the incidence, relative risk (RR), and clinico-morphological pattern of the associated dermatologic AEs are not known.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the literature, and performed a meta-analysis of dermatologic AEs observed with the use of pembrolizumab and nivolumab in cancer patients.

Reliable Detection of Mismatch Repair Deficiency in Colorectal Cancers Using Mutational Load in Next-Generation Sequencing Panels.

Purpose: Tumor screening for Lynch syndrome is recommended in all or most patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). In metastatic CRC, sequencing of RAS/BRAF is necessary to guide clinical management. We hypothesized that a next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel that identifies RAS/BRAF and other actionable mutations could also reliably identify tumors with DNA mismatch repair protein deficiency (MMR-D) on the basis of increased mutational load.

Correlations of Medial Joint Space Width on Fixed-Flexed Standing Computed Tomography and Radiographs With Cartilage and Meniscal Morphology on Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Objective: To assess whether medial tibiofemoral joint space width (JSW) on 3-dimensional (3-D) standing computed tomography (SCT) correlates more closely with magnetic resonance imaging cartilage morphology (CM) and meniscal scores than does radiographic 2-D JSW.

Methods: Participants in the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study, who had standing fixed-flexion posteroanterior knee radiographs, were recruited. Medial tibiofemoral 3-D JSW on SCT and 2-D JSW on fixed-flexion radiographs were compared with medial tibiofemoral cartilage and meniscal morphology using the Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score (WORMS).

A Phase II Efficacy and Safety, Open-Label, Multicenter Study of Imprime PGG Injection in Combination With Cetuximab in Patients With Stage IV KRAS-Mutant Colorectal Cancer.

Background: Imprime PGG (β(1,6)-[poly-(1,3)-D-glucopyranosyl]-poly-β(1,3)-D-glucopyranose) is an innate immune cell modulator that primes neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages to exert antitumor activity against complement opsonized tumor cells. In patients with KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer (CRC), cetuximab alone is ineffective; however, it can bind to tumor cells and induce opsonization for recognition by Imprime PGG-bound innate immune cells. The primary objective of this study was to determine the antitumor activity of Imprime PGG in combination with cetuximab in patients with KRAS-mutant metastatic CRC.

Twin Legacies: Victor and Vincent McKusick/Twin Studies: Twinning Rates I; Twinning Rates II; MZ Twin Discordance for Russell-Silver Syndrome; Twins' Language Skills/Headlines: Babies Born to Identical Twin Couples; Identity Exchange; Death of Princess Ashraf (Twin); Yahoo CEO Delivers Identical Twins.

The lives of the illustrious monozygotic (MZ) twins, Victor A. and Vincent L. McKusick, are described.

Autoimmune Bullous Skin Disorders with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Targeting PD-1 and PD-L1.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) targeting immune checkpoint pathways such as cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed death 1 (PD-1) may confer durable disease control in several malignancies. In some patients, immune checkpoint mAbs cause cutaneous immune-related adverse events. Although the most commonly reported cutaneous toxicities are mild, a subset may persist despite therapy and can lead to severe or life-threatening toxicity.

Symptoms of Knee Instability as Risk Factors for Recurrent Falls.

Objective: Whether knee instability contributes to the increased risk of falls and fractures observed in persons with knee osteoarthritis (OA) has not been studied. We examined the association of knee buckling with the risk of falling and fall-related consequences in older adults with, or at high risk for, knee OA.

Methods: At the 60-month visit of the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study, men and women ages 55-84 years were asked about knee buckling in the past 3 months and whether they fell when a knee buckled.

Changes in patellofemoral and tibiofemoral joint cartilage damage and bone marrow lesions over 7 years: the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study.

Objectives: To investigate changes in cartilage damage and bone marrow lesions (BMLs) on MRI in the patellofemoral and tibiofemoral joints (TFJs) over 7 years.

Methods: The Multicenter Osteoarthritis (MOST) Study is a cohort study of persons aged 50-79 years at baseline with or at high risk for knee osteoarthritis (OA). Knees were eligible for the current study if they had knee MRI (1.

Modern Immunotherapy for the Treatment of Advanced Gastrointestinal Cancers.

Since the first immune checkpoint-blocking monoclonal antibody was approved in the United States in 2011 for the treatment of advanced cancer, the rate of progress in the field of cancer immunotherapy has only accelerated. This mode of cancer treatment has yielded durable complete responses in a subset of patients with metastatic cancer for whom no other treatment was effective. It is a class of therapy that is not inherently cancer type-specific, and investigators are only beginning to understand why some cancers, such as melanoma, are more sensitive to immunotherapy than others.

Deleterious Effects of Intra-arterial Administration of Particulate Steroids on Microvascular Perfusion in a Mouse Model.

Purpose To determine the in vivo effects of several particulate steroids on microvascular perfusion by using intravital microscopy in a mice model and to investigate the in vitro interactions between these particulate steroids and red blood cells (RBCs). Materials and Methods The study was conducted in agreement with the guidelines of the National Committee of Ethic Reflection on Animal Experimentation. By using intravital microscopy of mouse cremaster muscle, the in vivo effects of several particulate steroids on microvascular perfusion were assessed.

The Fourth International Network of Twin Registries: Overview from Osaka/Research Reviews: Familial Fraternal Twinning; Twin Study of Masculine Faces; Physical Aggression and Epigenetics; Prenatal Education for Parents of Twins/Current Events: 2016 Guinness Book of World Records; Oldest Living Male Twins; Twins Reunited at Sixty-Nine; Panda Twins; Twins.com.

The 4th International Network of Twin Registries (INTR) Consortium Meeting took place in Osaka, Japan, September 28-29, 2015. The venue was the Osaka Medical Center for Medical Innovation and Translational Research. An overview of presentations and other activities is provided.