Prospective Evaluation of Ureteral Wall Thickness as a Means to Predict Spontaneous Stone Passage: Is It Beneficial?

Ureteral wall thickness (UWT) was proposed as a potential predictor for spontaneous stone passage (SSP). In earlier studies, the effect could not be isolated from stone size. Accordingly, we sought to determine whether UWT, alone or combined with stone size, could enhance SSP predictability.

Genophenotypic correlates and long-term outcome prognosticators of left ventricular non-compaction in children.

Background: To investigate the outcomes, clinical prognosticators, and genetic profiles of pediatric left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC).

Methods: All subjects were <18 years old, diagnosed with LVNC between January 2008 and December 2020. Whole-exome sequencing was undertaken.

The impact of the California state lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic on management of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Background And Objectives: The SARS-COVID-19 pandemic significantly limited healthcare access. We sought to evaluate whether California's lockdown in March 2020 affected staging and time to treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We hypothesized that patients diagnosed after the lockdown would have longer time to treatment and higher stage at presentation.

Hereditary Cancer Clinics Improve Adherence to NCCN Germline Testing Guidelines for Pancreatic Cancer.

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a poor prognosis, with a 5-year overall survival rate of 10%. In November 2018, NCCN recommended that all patients with PDAC receive genetic counseling (GC) and germline testing regardless of family history. We hypothesized that patients with PDAC were more likely to be referred for testing after this change to the guidelines, regardless of presumed predictive factors, and that compliance would be further improved following the implementation of a hereditary cancer clinic (HCC).

Interventions to mitigate cancer-related medical financial hardship: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: This study systematically reviewed interventions mitigating financial hardship in patients with cancer and assessed effectiveness using a meta-analytic method.

Methods: PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, CINAHL, and Web of Science were searched for articles published in English during January 2000-April 2023. Two independent reviewers selected prospective clinical trials with an intervention targeting and an outcome measuring financial hardship.

Baseline immunoglobulin G and immune function in non-Hodgkin lymphoma: a retrospective analysis.

Introduction: Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) encompasses a diverse group of lymphoma subtypes with a wide range in disease course. Previous studies show that hypogammaglobulinemia in treatment-naïve patients is associated with poorer survival in high grade B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, though it is not known how this applies across all B-cell lymphoid malignancies.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of immunoglobulin levels and clinical outcomes including survival, hospitalization, and infection rates in patients diagnosed with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas of all grades at our institution.

A phase I study of docetaxel plus synthetic lycopene in metastatic prostate cancer patients.

Purpose: Our preclinical studies showed that lycopene enhanced the anti-prostate cancer efficacy of docetaxel in animal models. A phase I trial (NCT0149519) was conducted to identify an optimum dose of synthetic lycopene in combination with docetaxel (and androgen blockade [androgen deprivation therapy, ADT]), and to evaluate its effect on the safety and pharmacokinetics of docetaxel in men with metastatic prostate cancer.

Methods: Subjects were treated with 21-day cycles of 75 mg/m docetaxel (and ADT), plus lycopene at 30, 90 or 150 mg/day.

A Pilot Study of Pembrolizumab Combined With Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy for Patients With Advanced or Metastatic Sarcoma.

Objectives: Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors has shown only limited success in the management of metastatic soft tissue sarcoma. Overall response rates (ORR) with single agent pembrolizumab were 18% and median PFS was 18 weeks on the clinical trial SARC028. One strategy to improve the responses to immunotherapy is with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), which can enhance the antitumor CD8 T cell response through the release of tumor-specific antigens, potentially priming a more diverse class of T cell receptors.

A missense variant in the nuclear localization signal of DKC1 causes Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome.

Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome (HHS) is the most severe form of dyskeratosis congenita (DC) and is caused by mutations in genes involved in telomere maintenance. Here, we identified male siblings from a family with HHS carrying a hemizygous mutation (c.1345C > G, p.

Multifocal confocal microscopy using a volume holographic lenslet array illuminator.

Multifocal illumination can improve image acquisition time compared to single point scanning in confocal microscopy. However, due to an increase in the system complexity, obtaining uniform multifocal illumination throughout the field of view with conventional methods is challenging. Here, we propose a volume holographic lenslet array illuminator (VHLAI) for multifocal confocal microscopy.

High-Throughput Optical Controlling and Recording Calcium Signal in iPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes for Toxicity Testing and Phenotypic Drug Screening.

Understanding how excitable cells work in health and disease and how that behavior can be altered by small molecules or genetic manipulation is important. Genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) with multiple emission windows can be combined (e.g.

Metasurface-Based Abrupt Autofocusing Beam for Biomedical Applications.

Manipulation and precise delivery of optical energies in the regions of interest within specimens require different strategies. Hence, proper control of input beam parameters is a prerequisite. One of the prominent methods is metasurface optics, capable of crafting properties of light at nanoscales.

Hip, vertebral, and wrist fracture risks and schizophrenia: a nationwide longitudinal study.

Background: Fractures are a great health issue associated with morbidity, quality of life, life span, and health care expenditure. Fractures are correlated with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cerebrovascular disease, and some psychiatric disorders. However, representative national data are few, and longitudinal cohort studies on the association between schizophrenia and the subsequent fracture risk are scant.

Psychological stress and cortisol during pregnancy: An ecological momentary assessment (EMA)-Based within- and between-person analysis.

Background: Although the linkage between psychological stress and cortisol is believed to mediate the association of stress with health outcomes, several studies have been unable to demonstrate this association. We suggest this inability may be a consequence of limitations in the measurement approach and/or reliance on analytic strategies that focus on associations across, rather than within individuals. The link between psychological stress and cortisol is of particular interest in the context of pregnancy and fetal development.

Increased frequency of GNPAT p.D519G in compound HFE p.C282Y/p.H63D heterozygotes with elevated serum ferritin levels.

Glyceronephosphate O-acyltransferase (GNPAT) p.D519G (rs11558492) was identified as a genetic modifier correlated with more severe iron overload in hemochromatosis through whole-exome sequencing of HFE p.C282Y homozygotes with extreme iron phenotypes.

A Phase IIa Trial of Metformin for Colorectal Cancer Risk Reduction among Individuals with History of Colorectal Adenomas and Elevated Body Mass Index.

Obesity is associated with risk of colorectal adenoma (CRA) and colorectal cancer. The signaling pathway activated by metformin (LKB1/AMPK/mTOR) is implicated in tumor suppression in Apc mice via metformin-induced reduction in polyp burden, increased ratio of pAMPK/AMPK, decreased pmTOR/mTOR ratio, and decreased pS6/S6 ratio in polyps. We hypothesized that metformin would affect colorectal tissue S6 among obese patients with recent history of CRA.

Deficiency of nuclear receptor interaction protein leads to cardiomyopathy by disrupting sarcomere structure and mitochondrial respiration.

Background: Cardiomyopathy is a common and lethal complication in patients with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), one of the most prevalent forms of muscular dystrophy. The pathogenesis underlying LGMD-related cardiomyopathy remains unclear. NRIP (gene name DCAF6), a Ca-dependent calmodulin binding protein, was reduced in dystrophic muscles from LGMD patients.

Diffuse optical spectroscopic imaging for the investigation of human lactation physiology: a case study on mammary involution.

Relatively few imaging and sensing technologies are employed to study human lactation physiology. In particular, human mammary development during pregnancy as well as mammary involution after lactation have been poorly described, despite their importance for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment during these phases. Our case study shows the potential of diffuse optical spectroscopic imaging (DOSI) to uniquely study the spatiotemporal changes in mammary tissue composition during the involution of the lactating breast toward its pre-pregnant state.

Bivariate mixture models for the joint distribution of repeated serum ferritin and transferrin saturation measured 12 years apart in a cohort of healthy middle-aged Australians.

Homozygosity for the p.C282Y substitution in the HFE protein encoded by the hemochromatosis gene on chromosome 6p (HFE) is a common genetic trait that increases susceptibility to iron overload. McLaren et al.

Cirrhosis in Hemochromatosis: Independent Risk Factors in 368 HFE p.C282Y Homozygotes.

Introduction And Aim: We sought to identify independent risk factors for cirrhosis in HFE p.C282Y homozygotes in a cross-sectional study.

Material And Methods: We evaluated 368 p.

External light activates hair follicle stem cells through eyes via an ipRGC-SCN-sympathetic neural pathway.

Changes in external light patterns can alter cell activities in peripheral tissues through slow entrainment of the central clock in suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). It remains unclear whether cells in otherwise photo-insensitive tissues can achieve rapid responses to changes in external light. Here we show that light stimulation of animals' eyes results in rapid activation of hair follicle stem cells with prominent hair regeneration.

Non-invasive Dual-Channel Broadband Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy of Massive Hemorrhage and Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta (REBOA) in Swine.

Objective: To quantitatively measure tissue composition and hemodynamics during resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) in two tissue compartments using non-invasive two-channel broadband diffuse optical spectroscopy (DOS).

Methods: Tissue concentrations of oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin (HbO2 and HbR), water, and lipid were measured in a porcine model (n = 10) of massive hemorrhage (65% total blood volume over 1 h) and 30-min REBOA superior and inferior to the aortic balloon.

Results: After hemorrhage, hemoglobin oxygen saturation (StO2 = HbO2/[HbO2 + HbR]) at both sites decreased significantly (-29.

The type VI adenylyl cyclase protects cardiomyocytes from β-adrenergic stress by a PKA/STAT3-dependent pathway.

Background: The type VI adenylyl cyclase (AC6) is a main contributor of cAMP production in the heart. The amino acid (aa) sequence of AC6 is highly homologous to that of another major cardiac adenylyl cyclase, AC5, except for its N-terminus (AC6-N, aa 1-86). Activation of AC6, rather than AC5, produces cardioprotective effects against heart failure, while the underlying mechanism remains to be unveiled.