Publications by authors named "Thomas Brown"

Article Synopsis
  • In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), social determinants of health (SDOHs) at the census-tract level impact treatment decisions, but their use in research is limited due to privacy issues.
  • A study analyzed treatment patterns among 3,595 NSCLC patients, linking their addresses to important SDOH indicators like primary care shortages and internet access, using statistical models to assess correlations.
  • Results indicated that living in areas with primary care shortages and in non-metropolitan locations was associated with a higher likelihood of receiving radiation therapy instead of surgery, and patients from disadvantaged areas often started treatment later, suggesting the need to consider SDOHs in cancer outcome studies.
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Background: Hypereosinophilic syndromes (HES) are defined as hypereosinophilia with eosinophil-related clinical manifestations, some of which overlap in presentation with asthma, atopic dermatitis, eosinophilic esophagitis, and/or chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. Dupilumab is approved to treat these conditions but can induce a transient rise in the absolute eosinophil count and rare eosinophil-related complications.

Objective: To determine whether eosinophil-related complications of dupilumab are increased in HES.

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Objectives: The primary objective of this project was to develop a comprehensive COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions' index for the province of Québec (QCnPI-Index). The resulting database systematically categorizes, multiple non-pharmaceutical interventions implemented in the 17 administrative regions (AR) of the province of Québec to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the form of an index.

Data Description: Data represent interventions and groups of interventions implemented during the COVID-19 period in Québec.

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Background: While adoption of personalized medicine (PM) continues to increase in clinical oncology, there is limited data connecting the level of PM adoption at a given institution to improved clinical outcomes for patients. The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between health care providers' scores on a previously described PM integration framework and two outcome measures: the use of targeted therapy and clinical trial enrollment.

Methods: This study was conducted using real-world data (RWD) from the Syapse Learning Health Network (LHN).

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The planarian Schmidtea mediterranea is being studied as a model species for regeneration, but the assembly of planarian genomes remains challenging. Here, we report a high-quality haplotype-phased, chromosome-scale genome assembly of the sexual S2 strain of S. mediterranea and high-quality chromosome-scale assemblies of its three close relatives, S.

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Article Synopsis
  • Portugal has a lot of different plants and animals because of its unique geography and history, but these species are in danger from things like climate change and over-exploitation.
  • Researchers in Portugal are working together through a project called Biogenome Portugal to study and document biodiversity, which means looking closely at the genes of different species.
  • The goal is to create a library of genetic information to help protect endangered species and promote conservation efforts in Portugal, especially for unique plants and animals found only there.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The collaboration aimed to analyze real-world data (RWD) to better understand treatment responses in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) patients, particularly focusing on the challenges of assessing real-world treatment outcomes.
  • - A retrospective observational study was conducted using data from several electronic health record companies that included information from 200 patients treated with a standard chemotherapy protocol, assessing key response metrics such as real-world response rate and overall survival.
  • - Results indicated that while clinician assessments were consistent across data sources, there was variability in imaging data and the duration of response; overall, the study confirmed the potential to harmonize diverse data sources for evaluating treatment responses in mNSCLC patients.
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The genomes of living lungfishes can inform on the molecular-developmental basis of the Devonian sarcopterygian fish-tetrapod transition. We de novo sequenced the genomes of the African (Protopterus annectens) and South American lungfishes (Lepidosiren paradoxa). The Lepidosiren genome (about 91 Gb, roughly 30 times the human genome) is the largest animal genome sequenced so far and more than twice the size of the Australian (Neoceratodus forsteri) and African lungfishes owing to enlarged intergenic regions and introns with high repeat content (about 90%).

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  • The study aimed to characterize the airway microbiome in severe asthma at the species level and examine how specific bacteria relate to mucosal immune responses, particularly in a subgroup of asthma known for low type-2 inflammation.
  • Researchers analyzed sputum and nasal samples from two cohorts of adults with severe asthma using advanced sequencing techniques and integrated data with clinical and protein assessments.
  • Findings indicated that a significant portion of severe asthma cases were dominated by specific pathogens like H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis, with distinct relationships observed between these bacteria and inflammatory responses in the airways.
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This study investigates gonadal histology in individuals with Turner syndrome assigned female at birth and Y-chromosome material (TS+Y) who underwent prophylactic gonadectomy. Despite case reports suggesting spontaneous menarche and pregnancies in TS+Y, this research reveals the absence of germ cells, indicating low fertility likelihood. Germ cell neoplasia in-situ was present in some patients, emphasizing a non-negligible risk of cancer precursor.

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Background: Severe asthma pathology encompasses a wide range of pulmonary and extrapulmonary treatable traits with a high prevalence of comorbidities. Although asthma-specific health-related quality-of-life measures are most sensitive to changes in asthma control, generic measures, such as EQ-5D-5L (EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level questionnaire), are potentially better for capturing the impact of comorbidities.

Objective: We sought to examine the impact of pulmonary and extrapulmonary treatable traits on quality of life at initial severe asthma assessment, and to compare the characteristics of those patients whose quality of life does and does not improve during follow-up at severe asthma centers.

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Background: Type 2 low-severe asthma phenotype is often a result of corticosteroid-overtreated type 2 disease owing to persistent symptoms, often unrelated to asthma and unlikely to respond to high-dose corticosteroid treatment.

Objective: This study aimed to characterize patients with severe asthma with low eosinophil counts (<300 cells/μL) and describe their disease burden and treatment across health care settings in the United Kingdom.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of patients with severe asthma using linked Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) Aurum-Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) and UK Severe Asthma Registry (UKSAR) data indexed patients according to the latest blood eosinophil count (BEC).

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To test the hypothesized crucial role of microglia in the developmental refinement of neural circuitry, we depleted microglia from mice of both sexes with PLX5622 and examined the experience-dependent maturation of visual circuitry and function. We assessed retinal function, receptive field tuning of visual cortex neurons, acuity and experience-dependent plasticity. None of these measurements detectibly differed in the absence of microglia, challenging the role of microglia in sculpting neural circuits.

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The Gleason score is an important predictor of prognosis in prostate cancer. However, its subjective nature can result in over- or under-grading. Our objective was to train an artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithm to grade prostate cancer in specimens from patients who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP) and to assess the correlation of AI-estimated proportions of different Gleason patterns with biochemical recurrence-free survival (RFS), metastasis-free survival (MFS), and overall survival (OS).

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Placental System L amino acid transporter activity is decreased in pregnancies complicated by intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and increased in fetal overgrowth. However, it is unknown if changes in the expression/activity of placental Large Neutral Amino Acid Transporter Small Subunit 1 (Slc7a5/LAT1) are mechanistically linked to placental function and fetal growth. We hypothesized that trophoblast-specific overexpression increases placental transport of essential amino acids, activates the placental mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling, and promotes fetal growth in mice.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Gene duplication is a key mechanism for creating genetic diversity, influencing how species adapt and evolve new traits, specifically in visual opsin genes, which have undergone dynamic changes through multiple duplication events.
  • - This study focuses on the Betta genus, particularly the five lws opsin genes, utilizing whole-genome sequences from nine anabantoid species to trace the evolutionary history and functional diversification of these genes.
  • - Findings indicate at least two independent duplications of the lws gene in Betta, with significant amino acid changes leading to different light absorption characteristics, and that gene expression patterns shift throughout development, suggesting a coordinated evolution of visual function in these fish.
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We present a complete, chromosome-scale reference genome for the long-distance migratory bat Pipistrellus nathusii. The genome encompasses both haplotypic sets of autosomes and the separation of both sex chromosomes by utilizing highly accurate long-reads and preserving long-range phasing information through the use of three-dimensional chromatin conformation capture sequencing (Hi-C). This genome, accompanied by a comprehensive protein-coding sequence annotation, provides a valuable genomic resource for future investigations into the genomic bases of long-distance migratory flight in bats as well as uncovering the genetic architecture, population structure and evolutionary history of Pipistrellus nathusii.

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We present a genome assembly from an individual male (The Brazilian free-tailed bat; Chordata; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Molossidae). The genome sequence is 2.28 Gb in span.

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Preeclampsia (PE) is a leading cause of maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity. While placental dysfunction is a core underlying issue, the pathogenesis of this disorder is thought to differ between early-onset (EOPE) and late-onset (LOPE) subtypes. As recent reports suggest that small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) contribute to the development of PE, we have compared systemic sEV concentrations between normotensive, EOPE, and LOPE pregnancies.

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Introduction: Spirometry is the gold standard for COPD diagnosis and severity determination, but is technique-dependent, nonspecific, and requires administration by a trained healthcare professional. There is a need for a fast, reliable, and precise alternative diagnostic test. This study's aim was to use interpretable machine learning to diagnose COPD and assess severity using 75-second carbon dioxide (CO) breath records captured with TidalSense's N-Tidal capnometer.

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