Homologous recombination deficiency should be tested for in patients with advanced stage high-grade serous ovarian cancer aged 70 years and over.

Objective: Due to limited data on homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) in older patients (≥ 70 years) with advanced stage high grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC), we aimed to determine the rates of HRD at diagnosis in this age group.

Methods: From the Phase 3 trial VELIA the frequency of HRD and BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants (PVs) was compared between younger (< 70 years) and older participants. HRD and somatic(s) BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants (PVs) were determined at diagnosis using Myriad myChoice® CDx and germline(g) BRCA1/2 PVs using Myriad BRACAnalysis CDx®.

Gastric mucosa as a rare recurrence location of endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma.

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy in the United States, with a prevalence of 25.7 per 100,000 women per year (Mahdy et al., 2023).

A phase III, multicenter, randomized study of olvimulogene nanivacirepvec followed by platinum-doublet chemotherapy and bevacizumab compared with platinum-doublet chemotherapy and bevacizumab in women with platinum-resistant/refractory ovarian cancer.

Background: Treatment options for patients with platinum-resistant/refractory ovarian cancers are limited and only marginally effective. The development of novel, more effective therapies addresses a critical unmet medical need. Olvimulogene nanivacirepvec (Olvi-Vec), with its strong immune modulating effect on the tumor microenvironment, may provide re-sensitization to platinum and clinically reverse platinum resistance or refractoriness in platinum-resistant/refractory ovarian cancer.

Final survival analysis of topotecan and paclitaxel for first-line treatment of advanced cervical cancer: An NRG oncology randomized study.

Objective: To determine whether a non‑platinum chemotherapy doublet improves overall survival (OS) among patients with recurrent/metastatic cervical carcinoma.

Methods: Gynecologic Oncology Group protocol 240 is a phase 3, randomized, open-label, clinical trial that studied the efficacy of paclitaxel 175 mg/m plus topotecan 0.75 mg/m days 1-3 (n = 223) vs cisplatin 50 mg/m plus paclitaxel 135 or 175 mg/m (n = 229), in 452 patients with recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer.

An Interprofessional Primary Palliative Care Curriculum for Health Care Trainees and Practicing Clinicians.

Background: Equipping all interprofessional clinicians with foundational palliative care competencies is essential to address the complex needs of the growing number of adults living with chronic, progressive, or life-threatening serious illness. There is a paucity of high-quality, open-access primary palliative care curricula and to the best of our knowledge, none designed interprofessionally.

Objective: As an interprofessional team, we aimed at designing and evaluating an interactive primary palliative care education curriculum for interprofessional clinicians and trainees.

Impact of homologous recombination status and responses with veliparib combined with first-line chemotherapy in ovarian cancer in the Phase 3 VELIA/GOG-3005 study.

Objective: In the Phase 3 VELIA trial (NCT02470585), PARP inhibitor (PARPi) veliparib was combined with first-line chemotherapy and continued as maintenance for patients with ovarian carcinoma enrolled regardless of chemotherapy response or biomarker status. Here, we report exploratory analyses of the impact of homologous recombination deficient (HRD) or proficient (HRP) status on progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rates during chemotherapy.

Methods: Women with Stage III-IV ovarian carcinoma were randomized to veliparib-throughout, veliparib-combination-only, or placebo.

Urethral self-insertion of a USB cable as sexual experimentation: A case report.

The insertion of a foreign body into the urethra is a delicate matter that may prevent patients from presenting promptly. It can have serious long-term implications. Sexual experimentation and gratification, as well as underlying mental disorders, are considered the main causes of retained foreign bodies in the urethra and bladder.

How Do the Players Play? A Post-Genomic Analysis Paradigm to Understand Aquatic Ecosystem Processes.

Culture-independent and -omics sequencing methods have shed considerable light on the so-called "microbial dark matter" of Earth's environmental microbiome, improving our understanding of phylogeny, the tree of life, and the vast functional diversity of microorganisms. This influx of sequence data has led to refined and reimagined hypotheses about the role and importance of microbial biomass, that paradoxically, sequencing approaches alone are unable to effectively test. Post-genomic approaches such as metabolomics are providing more sensitive and insightful data to unravel the fundamental operations and intricacies of microbial communities within aquatic systems.

Routine evaluation of vesico-ureteric reflux in children with anorectal malformation does not reduce the rate of urinary tract infection.

Objective: Children with anorectal malformations (ARM) have a high rate of renal anomalies and increased risk of urinary tract infection (UTI). We aimed to determine whether using routine Micturating Cystourethrogram (MCUG) to detect VUR is effective in reducing the incidence of UTI or renal scarring in children with ARM.

Methods: A retrospective study of consecutive children diagnosed with ARM in two centres with a minimum of 3 years follow-up was performed, excluding those with cloaca or an MCUG prior to ARM repair.

Investigating the microbial dynamics of microcystin-LR degradation in Lake Erie sand.

Cyanobacterial blooms and the associated hepatotoxins produced (e.g., microcystins, MCs) create a significant human health risk in freshwater lakes around the world, including Lake Erie.

Striking a Balance: Physical Activity, Screen-Viewing and Homework during the Transition to Secondary School.

Physical activity levels decline, and screen-viewing behaviours increase during childhood and adolescence. The transition to secondary school appears to coincide with a sharp decline in physical activity. Parents have the potential to influence their child's behaviours, yet little is known about their expectations for their child's physical activity and screen-viewing during this transition.

TeamTalk: Interprofessional Team Development and Communication Skills Training.

Communication training is a hallmark of palliative care education. The purpose of this article is to report on the development, exploratory outcomes, and lessons learned from a pilot project, "TeamTalk," which adapted VitalTalk methodology for interprofessional learners. TeamTalk included a series of interactive workshops led by an interprofessional faculty team at a health sciences university.

RRx-001 followed by platinum plus etoposide in patients with previously treated small-cell lung cancer.

Background: This exploratory single-arm phase II study evaluated the efficacy and safety of RRx-001 followed by reintroduction of platinum plus etoposide in patients with previously treated small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Methods: Patients were treated with RRx-001 4 mg IV on day 1 of each week of a 21-day cycle followed at progression by re-challenge with etoposide 80-100 IV mg/m on days 1, 2 and 3 and cisplatin 60-80 mg/m IV on day 1 or carboplatin AUC 5-6 IV on day 1, every 21 days. The primary end points were overall survival (OS) and overall response rate to platinum regimen.

Physical Activity during the School Holidays: Parent Perceptions and Practical Considerations.

Children's physical activity decreases during school holidays. Less structured days and reduced participation in organised activities may account for some of the decrease. Little is known about the factors that influence parents' decision to enrol their child in organised activity such as holiday clubs.

Microbial metabolic strategies for overcoming low-oxygen in naturalized freshwater reservoirs surrounding the Athabasca Oil Sands: A proxy for End-Pit Lakes?

The success and sustainability of aquatic ecosystems are driven by the complex, cooperative metabolism of microbes. Ecological engineering strategies often strive to harness this syntrophic synergy of microbial metabolism for the reclamation of contaminated environments worldwide. Currently, there is a significant knowledge gap in our understanding of how the natural microbial ecology overcomes thermodynamic limitations in recovering contaminated environments.

Intraluminal mesh migration causing enteroenteric and enterocutaneous fistula: a case and discussion of the 'mesh problem'.

The use of synthetic mesh in the abdominal compartment has recently become a topic of debate as high profile public cases have called into question their safety. Several case reports have demonstrated significant complications due to intra-abdominal mesh. Furthermore, some studies have suggested that the rates of these severe complications are underestimated.

Examining the challenges posed to parents by the contemporary screen environments of children: a qualitative investigation.

Background: The ubiquity of technology in modern society has led to the American Academy of Pediatrics adapting their screen-viewing (SV) recommendations for children. The revised guidelines encourage families to identify an appropriate balance between SV and other activities. The aims of this study were to explore parents' views of their child's SV time and how important it is for families to achieve a 'digital balance'.

Novel insights into freshwater hydrocarbon-rich sediments using metatranscriptomics: Opening the black box.

Baseline biogeochemical surveys of natural environments is an often overlooked field of environmental studies. Too often research begins once contamination has occurred, with a knowledge gap as to how the affected area behaved prior to outside (often anthropogenic) influences. These baseline characterizations can provide insight into proposed bioremediation strategies crucial in cleaning up chemical spill sites or heavily mined regions.

Nutrients from salmon parents alter selection pressures on their offspring.

Organisms can modify their surrounding environment, but whether these changes are large enough to feed back and alter their evolutionary trajectories is not well understood, particularly in wild populations. Here we show that nutrient pulses from decomposing Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) parents alter selection pressures on their offspring with important consequences for their phenotypic and genetic diversity. We found a strong survival advantage to larger eggs and faster juvenile metabolic rates in streams lacking carcasses but not in streams containing this parental nutrient input.

Investigating sources and sinks of NO expression from freshwater microbial communities in urban watershed sediments.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) serve as point-source inputs for a variety of nutrients often dominated by nitrogenous compounds as a result of anthropogenic influence. These effluents can impact biogeochemical cycles in freshwater estuaries, influencing microbial communities in both the water and sediment compartments. To assess the impact of point source nutrients, a transect of sediment and pore water samples were collected from 4 locations in the Little River Sub-watershed including locations above and below the Little River Pollution Control Plant (LRPCP).

Bevacizumab for advanced cervical cancer: final overall survival and adverse event analysis of a randomised, controlled, open-label, phase 3 trial (Gynecologic Oncology Group 240).

Background: On Aug 14, 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the antiangiogenesis drug bevacizumab for women with advanced cervical cancer on the basis of improved overall survival (OS) after the second interim analysis (in 2012) of 271 deaths in the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) 240 trial. In this study, we report the prespecified final analysis of the primary objectives, OS and adverse events.

Methods: In this randomised, controlled, open-label, phase 3 trial, we recruited patients with metastatic, persistent, or recurrent cervical carcinoma from 81 centres in the USA, Canada, and Spain.

Statins, PCSK9 inhibitors and cholesterol homeostasis: a view from within the hepatocyte.

Statins and PCSK9 inhibitors dramatically lower plasma LDL levels and dramatically increase LDL receptor number within hepatocyte cell membranes. It seems self-evident that total clearance of LDL particles from plasma and total delivery of cholesterol to the liver must increase in consequence. However, based on the results of stable isotope tracer studies, this analysis demonstrates the contrary to be the case.

Investigating the Microbial Degradation Potential in Oil Sands Fluid Fine Tailings Using Gamma Irradiation: A Metagenomic Perspective.

Open-pit mining of the Athabasca oil sands has generated large volumes of waste termed fluid fine tailings (FFT), stored in tailings ponds. Accumulation of toxic organic substances in the tailings ponds is one of the biggest concerns. Gamma irradiation (GI) treatment could accelerate the biodegradation of toxic organic substances.

Pigeons use distinct stop phases to control pecking.

Pecking at small targets requires accurate spatial coordination of the head. Planning of the peck has been proposed to occur in two distinct stop phases, but although this idea has now been around for a long time, the specific functional roles of these stop phases remain unsolved. Here, we investigated the characteristics of the two stop phases using high-speed motion capture and examined their functions with two experiments.