Treatment of lumbar spondylolysis in young adults using modified intravertebral screw-rod fixation system for single vertebral body combined with autologous cancellous bone graft: a technical note and preliminary report.

Background: There is currently no consensus on the surgical treatment of lumbar spondylolysis in young adults, and the nonunion rate remains relatively high even after surgery. Therefore, in this study, we proposed a modified intravertebral screw-rod fixation technique within a single vertebral segment and investigated the clinical efficacy of this modified fixation system combined with autologous cancellous bone grafting in the treatment of lumbar spondylolysis in young adults.

Methods: This study included 28 young adults with lumbar spondylolysis who were treated at our center between 2021 and 2023.

A new, effective method for diagnosing GLAD lesions: the chicken-wing muscle up test.

Purpose: We aimed to develop and evaluate a new diagnostic method, the 'chicken-wing muscle up test', to improve the accuracy of diagnosis of glenolabral articular disruption (GLAD) lesions compared to currently used clinical tests for injuries to the labrum.

Methods: Preoperative evaluations were conducted on 85 patients undergoing arthroscopic surgery at a single center between July 2021 to July 2022. The diagnostic performance of the preoperative clinical examinations (chicken-wing muscle up test, O'Brien test, crank test, and O'Driscoll test) were validated against the findings of arthroscopic examinations.

Iodine-doped TiO nanotube coatings: a technique for enhancing the antimicrobial properties of titanium surfaces against Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Implant-related infections are a challenging complication of orthopedic surgery, primarily due to the formation of bacterial biofilms on the implant surface. An antibacterial coating for titanium implants was developed to provide novel insights into the prevention and treatment of implant-related infections.

Methods: Titanium plates were coated with TiO nanotubes by anodization, and iodine was doped onto the coating via electrophoretic deposition.

Several ML Algorithms and Their Feature Vector Design for Gas Discrimination and Concentration Measurement with an Ultrasonically Catalyzed MOX Sensor.

Although gas-borne ultrasound catalysis has been developed as a new method to discriminate gas species and measure the concentration, applications of machine learning methods in gas analyses with a single metal oxide (MOX) gas sensor catalyzed by gas-borne ultrasound are still scarce. In this work, with an ultrasonically catalyzed MOX gas sensor, we explored the effectiveness of K-nearest neighbors (KNN), support vector machine (SVM), and single-hidden-layer BP-ANN (SHBP) in gas discrimination and the application of the SHBP in concentration measurement. The target gases in this work are ethanol, acetone, methanol, hydrogen, and -butane in clean air, respectively, and the discrimination and concentration regression are implemented by two different ML models.

Non-surgical treatment of giant tumor-like lumbar disc herniation based on enhanced MRI: A case series.

Rationale: In recent clinical follow-up, it has been vertified that resorption in lumbar disc herniation (LDH) could be of great curative effect in non-surgical treatment for LDH. However, reports of resorption in giant tumor-like LDH are rarely mentioned due to its risk of irreversible neurological damage which could be caused by long-term non-surgical treatment. In our clinical observations, we have found that enhanced MRI helps to distinguish LDH from intradural tumours and to predict the probability of resorption in LDH.

Translational Modeling Predicts Efficacious Therapeutic Dosing Range of Teclistamab for Multiple Myeloma.

Background: Teclistamab (JNJ-64007957), a B-cell maturation antigen × CD3 bispecific antibody, displayed potent T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity of multiple myeloma cells in preclinical studies.

Objective: A first-in-human, Phase I, dose escalation study (MajesTEC-1) is evaluating teclistamab in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Patients And Methods: To estimate the efficacious therapeutic dosing range of teclistamab, pharmacokinetic (PK) data following the first cycle doses in the low-dose cohorts in the Phase I study were modeled using a 2-compartment model and simulated to predict the doses that would have average and trough serum teclistamab concentrations in the expected therapeutic range (between EC and EC values from an ex vivo cytotoxicity assay).

Teclistamab in Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma.

Background: Teclistamab is a T-cell-redirecting bispecific antibody that targets both CD3 expressed on the surface of T cells and B-cell maturation antigen expressed on the surface of myeloma cells. In the phase 1 dose-defining portion of the study, teclistamab showed promising efficacy in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

Methods: In this phase 1-2 study, we enrolled patients who had relapsed or refractory myeloma after at least three therapy lines, including triple-class exposure to an immunomodulatory drug, a proteasome inhibitor, and an anti-CD38 antibody.

[Clinical observation on plastic splint treatment of middle clavicle fracture based on a new classification].

Objective: According to 73 patients with middle clavicle fracture treated conservatively, a new classification of middle clavicle fracture was proposed, and the clinical effect of plastic splint in the treatment of middle clavicle fracture was observed.

Methods: Total 73 patients with middle clavicle fracture treated with plastic splint from September 2018 to August 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. All the patients were divided into 4 types according to the degree of fracture displacement.

Molecular Characteristics of IS Carrying Multidrug Resistance Gene Cluster in Serotype III/Sequence Type 19 Group B Streptococcus.

Streptococcus agalactiae is the leading cause of meningitis in newborns and a significant cause of invasive diseases in pregnant women and adults with underlying diseases. Antibiotic resistance against erythromycin and clindamycin in group B streptococcus (GBS) isolates has been increasing worldwide. GBS expresses the Srr1 and Srr2 proteins, which have important roles in bacterial infection.

ptsI gene in the phosphotransfer system is a potential target for developing a live attenuated Salmonella vaccine.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium causes invasive non‑typhoidal Salmonella diseases in animals and humans, resulting in a high mortality rate and huge economic losses globally. As the prevalence of antibiotic‑resistant Salmonella has been increasing, vaccination is thought to be the most effective and economical strategy to manage salmonellosis. The present study aimed to investigate whether dysfunction in the phosphoenolpyruvate:carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS), which is critical for carbon uptake and survival in macrophages, may be adequate to generate Salmonella‑attenuated vaccine strains.

Antioxidant Activities of an Exopolysaccharide (DeinoPol) Produced by the Extreme Radiation-Resistant Bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans.

Deinococcus radiodurans shows extreme resistance to a range of remarkable environmental stresses. Deinococcal exopolysaccharide (DeinoPol) is a component of the cell wall, but its role in stress resistance has not yet been well-described. In this study, we isolated and characterized DeinoPol from Deinococcus radiodurans R1 strain and investigated its application as an antioxidant agent.

Effective mucosal live attenuated Salmonella vaccine by deleting phosphotransferase system component genes ptsI and crr.

Salmonella enterica is a major human pathogen that causes invasive non-typhoidal Salmonellosis (iNTS), resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Although a number of pre-clinical and clinical studies have reported on the feasibility of developing a safe and effective vaccine against iNTS, there have been no licensed Salmonella vaccines available to protect against NTS strains. Vaccine formulations of highest priority for NTS are live attenuated vaccines, which can elicit effective induction of intestinal mucosal and intracellular bacteria-specific cell mediated immune responses.

Modifications to Expose Porta Hepatis for Laparoscopic Portoenterostomy Easier in Biliary Atresia.

Background: Laparoscopic Kasai portoenterostomy (LKPE) is generally regarded to have a poorer outcome for surgical treatment of uncorrectable biliary atresia. We herein described our initial experience of some modifications to make LKPE easier in the treatment of type III biliary atresia (BA).

Methods: During the period July 2012-October 2016, a total of 25 infants with type III BA were treated with a modified LKPE technique.

CNPY2 enhances resistance to apoptosis induced by cisplatin via activation of NF-κB pathway in human non-small cell lung cancer.

Platinum-based chemotherapeutic drugs, especial cisplatin, are the most common and effective anticancer drugs to treat the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but the major obstacle of this treatment is the resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs due to the anti-apoptosis of cancer cells. In our study, we found that Canopy homolog 2 (CNPY2) is increased in NSCLC tissues compared to the normal lung tissues, and the upregulation of CNPY2 is correlated with poor survival. Next, colony formation, annexin V-binding and TUNEL assays revealed that overexpression of CNPY2 inhibits the apoptosis of NSCLC cells induced by cisplatin.

Status of group B streptococcal vaccine development.

(group B streptococcus, GBS) is a leading causal organism of neonatal invasive diseases and severe infections in the elderly. Despite significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of GBS infections and improvement in personal hygiene standards, this pathogen is still a global health concern. Thus, an effective vaccine against GBS would augment existing strategies to substantially decrease GBS infection.

Laparascopic Ladd's procedure as treatment alternative, when parenteral or prolonged hospital nutrition is not an option for superior mesenteric artery syndrome.

Objectives: Superior mesenteric artery syndrome (SMAS) is an uncommon cause of duodenal obstruction in pediatric patients. It is extremely rare in young infants. The classic treatment for SMAS has been an open or laparoscopic duodenojejunostomy when conservative medical therapy failed to resolve the obstruction.

Thermal properties and crystallization behavior of thermoplastic starch/poly(ɛ-caprolactone) composites.

TPS/PCL composites were prepared by PCL melt blending with modified corn starch. The structure, thermal properties, morphology and crystallization behavior of these composites were investigated by FTIR, TGA, SEM, XRD and DSC. FTIR confirmed the existence of the interaction between PCL and TPS, whereas TGA showed that the thermal stability was decreased by the addition of TPS.

Identification of candidate genes underlying an iron efficiency quantitative trait locus in soybean.

Prevalent on calcareous soils in the United States and abroad, iron deficiency is among the most common and severe nutritional stresses in plants. In soybean (Glycine max) commercial plantings, the identification and use of iron-efficient genotypes has proven to be the best form of managing this soil-related plant stress. Previous studies conducted in soybean identified a significant iron efficiency quantitative trait locus (QTL) explaining more than 70% of the phenotypic variation for the trait.

Cost-effectiveness of trastuzumab as adjuvant therapy for early breast cancer: a systematic review.

Objective: To identify published, original, cost-effectiveness analyses presenting cost/quality-adjusted life year (QALY) ratios for trastuzumab used as an adjuvant treatment for HER2-positive early breast cancer and to evaluate the quality of reporting the favorable cost-effectiveness ratios.

Data Sources: The terms trastuzumab adjuvant therapy, cost-effectiveness, quality-adjusted, QALY, and early breast cancer were searched in MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, and CancerLit, as well as in Cochrane economic evaluation and reference lists from 1998 to June 2008. Only English-language publications were eligible.

Cost evaluation of adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients in Taiwan: A prospective, descriptive, observational study.

Background: Adverse drug reactions (AADRs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. In the United States, ADR-related morbidity and mortality costs have been estimated at US $330 billion to US $1130 billion annually.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of ADRs in Taiwan, to identify the drug classes that are most commonly related to ADRs, and to determine the direct medical costs to hospitals associated with prolonged hospitalizations due to ADRs.