The role of the JunD-RhoH axis in the pathogenesis of hairy cell leukemia and its ability to identify existing therapeutics that could be repurposed to treat relapsed or refractory disease.

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is an indolent malignancy of mature B-lymphocytes. While existing front-line therapies achieve excellent initial results, a significant number of patients relapse and become increasingly treatment resistant. A major molecular driver of HCL is aberrant interlocking expression of the transcription factor JunD and the intracellular signaling molecule RhoH.

Full-length RNA-Seq of the RHOH gene in human B cells reveals new exons and splicing patterns.

The RhoH protein is a member of the Ras superfamily of guanosine triphosphate-binding proteins. RhoH is an atypical Rho family member that is always GTP-bound and thus always activated. It is restrictively expressed in normal hematopoietic cells, where it is a negative regulator of cell growth and survival.

Indirect costs of reproduction and the tradeoff between offspring size and number: a framework illustrated by fitness costs and benefits of ovarian fluid.

The theory describing the evolution of offspring size often assumes that the production cost per unit volume is the same for small and large offspring. However, this may not be true if indirect costs of reproduction (e.g.

The dopamine receptor antagonist haloperidol disrupts behavioral responses of sea urchins and sea stars.

Despite lacking a brain and having an apparent symmetrically pentaradial nervous system, echinoderms are capable of complex, coordinated directional behavioral responses to different sensory stimuli. However, very little is known about the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these behaviors. In many animals, dopaminergic systems play key roles in motivating and coordinating behavior, and although the dopamine receptor antagonist haloperidol has been shown to inhibit the righting response of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, it is not known whether this is specific to this behavior, in this species, or whether dopaminergic systems are needed in general for echinoderm behaviors.

Healthy aging reduces dynamic balance control as measured by the simplified Star Excursion Balance Test.

Background: Detecting and classifying factors that contribute to age-related balance decline are essential for targeted interventions. Dynamic postural tests that challenge neuromuscular balance control are important to detect subtle deficits that affect functional balance in healthy aging.

Research Question: How does healthy aging affect specific components of dynamic postural control as measured by the simplified Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT)?

Methods: Twenty healthy younger (18-39 years) and twenty healthy older (58-74 years) adults performed the standardized simplified SEBT, which involved standing on one leg and reaching the contralateral leg as far as possible in the anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral directions.

Association of folate concentrations with clinical signs and laboratory markers of chronic enteropathy in dogs.

Background: Serum folate is considered a biomarker of chronic enteropathy (CE) in dogs, but few studies have examined associations with markers of CE.

Hypothesis/objectives: To evaluate serum folate concentrations in dogs with and without CE and associations with sample hemolysis and selected markers of CE. We hypothesized that hypofolatemia would be more common in dogs with CE and associated with hypocobalaminemia, higher CIBDAI, and hypoalbuminemia.

Implementing cone-beam computed tomography-guided online adaptive radiotherapy in cervical cancer.

Background And Purpose: Adaptive radiotherapy (ART) in locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) has shown promising outcomes. This study investigated the feasibility of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)-guided online ART (oART) for the treatment of LACC.

Material And Methods: The quality of the automated radiotherapy treatment plans and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven contour delineation for LACC on a novel CBCT-guided oART system were assessed.

Understanding the challenges of delivering radiotherapy in low- and middle-income countries in Africa.

Background: Access to high quality radiotherapy (RT) continues to be a major issue across Africa with Africa having just 34% of its optimal capacity.

Methods: We co-developed a survey with clinical, academic and policy stakeholders designed to provide a structured assessment of the barriers and enablers to RT capacity building in Africa. The survey covered nine key themes including funding, procurement, education and training.

Effects of neurotransmitter receptor antagonists on sea urchin righting behavior and tube foot motility.

Echinoderms, such as sea urchins, occupy an interesting position in animal phylogeny in that they are genetically closer to vertebrates than the vast majority of all other invertebrates but have a nervous system that lacks a brain or brain-like structure. Despite this, very little is known about the neurobiology of the adult sea urchin, and how the nervous system is utilized to produce behavior. Here, we investigated effects on the righting response of antagonists of ionotropic receptors for the neurotransmitters acetylcholine, GABA and glycine, and antagonists of metabotropic receptors for the amines dopamine and noradrenaline (norepinephrine).

Pathway for radiation therapists online advanced adapter training and credentialing.

Online adaptive radiotherapy (oART) is an emerging advanced treatment option for cancer patients worldwide. Current oART practices using magnetic resonance (MR) and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) based imaging are resource intensive and require physician presence, which is a barrier to widespread implementation. Global evidence demonstrates Radiation Therapists (RTTs) can lead the oART workflow with decision support tools and on 'on-call' caveats in a 'clinician-lite' approach without significantly compromising on treatment accuracy, speed or patient outcomes.

A time-varying vulnerability index for COVID-19 in New Mexico, USA using generalized propensity scores.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted systemic inequities in the United States and resulted in a larger burden of negative social outcomes for marginalized communities. New Mexico, a state in the southwestern US, has a unique population with a large racial minority population and a high rate of poverty that may make communities more vulnerable to negative social outcomes from COVID-19. To identify which communities may be at the highest relative risk, we created a county-level vulnerability index.

Adaptive Radiotherapy in the Management of Cervical Cancer: Review of Strategies and Clinical Implementation.

The complex and varied motion of the cervix-uterus target during external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) underscores the clinical benefits afforded by adaptive radiotherapy (ART) techniques. These gains have already been realised in the implementation of image-guided adaptive brachytherapy, where adapting to anatomy at each fraction has seen improvements in clinical outcomes and a reduction in treatment toxicity. With regards to EBRT, multiple adaptive strategies have been implemented, including a personalised internal target volume, offline replanning and a plan of the day approach.

How New Mexico Leveraged a COVID-19 Case Forecasting Model to Preemptively Address the Health Care Needs of the State: Quantitative Analysis.

Background: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, US hospitals relied on static projections of future trends for long-term planning and were only beginning to consider forecasting methods for short-term planning of staffing and other resources. With the overwhelming burden imposed by COVID-19 on the health care system, an emergent need exists to accurately forecast hospitalization needs within an actionable timeframe.

Objective: Our goal was to leverage an existing COVID-19 case and death forecasting tool to generate the expected number of concurrent hospitalizations, occupied intensive care unit (ICU) beds, and in-use ventilators 1 day to 4 weeks in the future for New Mexico and each of its five health regions.

Mining and Validating Social Media Data for COVID-19-Related Human Behaviors Between January and July 2020: Infodemiology Study.

Background: Health authorities can minimize the impact of an emergent infectious disease outbreak through effective and timely risk communication, which can build trust and adherence to subsequent behavioral messaging. Monitoring the psychological impacts of an outbreak, as well as public adherence to such messaging, is also important for minimizing long-term effects of an outbreak.

Objective: We used social media data from Twitter to identify human behaviors relevant to COVID-19 transmission, as well as the perceived impacts of COVID-19 on individuals, as a first step toward real-time monitoring of public perceptions to inform public health communications.

"Thought I'd Share First" and Other Conspiracy Theory Tweets from the COVID-19 Infodemic: Exploratory Study.

Background: The COVID-19 outbreak has left many people isolated within their homes; these people are turning to social media for news and social connection, which leaves them vulnerable to believing and sharing misinformation. Health-related misinformation threatens adherence to public health messaging, and monitoring its spread on social media is critical to understanding the evolution of ideas that have potentially negative public health impacts.

Objective: The aim of this study is to use Twitter data to explore methods to characterize and classify four COVID-19 conspiracy theories and to provide context for each of these conspiracy theories through the first 5 months of the pandemic.

Bimodal expression of during myelomonocytic differentiation: Implications for the expansion of AML differentiation therapy.

RhoH is an unusual member of the Rho family of small GTP-binding proteins in that it lacks GTPase activity. Since the RhoH protein is constantly bound by GTP, it is constitutively active and controlled predominantly by changes in quantitative expression. Abnormal levels of gene transcripts have been linked to a range of malignancies including acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Prevalence and correlates of prior experimentation with e-cigarettes over conventional cigarettes among adolescents: Findings from the 2015 Korea Youth Risk Behaviour Web-based Survey.

Introduction: As concern is increasing about electronic cigarette use among never-smoking youth, we aimed to examine the prevalence and correlates of prior experimentation of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) over conventional cigarettes (c-cigs).

Methods: We used the 10th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey in 2015, including 67960 participants as study subjects. This survey was designed as stratified multistage clustered samples from middle schools and high schools.

Differences in Incidence and Case Fatality of Abusive Head Trauma.

Background: Abusive head trauma (AHT) in children older than 1 and younger than 5 years old is thought uncommon and rarely studied.

Objective: This study estimates national incidence and case fatality rate of abusive head trauma (AHT), and evaluates differences by age, sex, race, and region, with a focus on children of 2-4 years.

Participants And Setting: Hospital discharges were extracted from The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's Kids' Inpatient Database from 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, and 2012 using the CDC's narrow definition of AHT.

Biased modulators of NMDA receptors control channel opening and ion selectivity.

Allosteric modulators of ion channels typically alter the transitions rates between conformational states without changing the properties of the open pore. Here we describe a new class of positive allosteric modulators of N-methyl D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) that mediate a calcium-permeable component of glutamatergic synaptic transmission and play essential roles in learning, memory and cognition, as well as neurological disease. EU1622-14 increases agonist potency and channel-open probability, slows receptor deactivation and decreases both single-channel conductance and calcium permeability.

Light-Dependent Electrical Activity in Sea Urchin Tube Feet Cells.

Sea urchins can detect and respond to light, and many species of sea urchins are negatively phototaxic. Light detection is hypothesized to occur via photoreceptors located on sea urchin tube feet, and opsins have been detected in tube feet, spines, and the test. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying light detection are, for the most part, unknown.

Arithmetic of arithmetic Coxeter groups.

In the 1990s, J. H. Conway published a combinatorial-geometric method for analyzing integer-valued binary quadratic forms (BQFs).