Publications by authors named "Will R"

Background: Understanding the size and surface charge (ζ-potential) of particles in the mixed micellar fraction produced by in vitro digestion is crucial to understand their cellular absorption and transport. The inconsistent presentation of micellar size data, often limited to average particle diameter, makes comparison of studies difficult. The present study aimed to assess different size data representations (mean particle diameter, relative intensity- or volume-weighted size distribution) to better understand physiological mixed micelle characteristics and to provide recommendations for size reporting and sample handling.

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Objective: The optimal approach for improving physical function following acute hospitalization is unknown. A recent clinical trial of home health physical therapy compared a high-intensity, progressive, multi-component (PMC) intervention to enhanced usual care (EUC). While both groups improved in physical function, no between-group differences were observed.

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Objectives: Reduced physical function following hospitalization places older adults at risk of adverse health events. Many older adults receive home health physical therapy to reverse their deconditioning; however, optimal approaches to improve physical function are currently not known. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a home health care approach comprised of high-intensity exercise, enhanced care transition, and protein supplementation.

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Overcoming temozolomide (TMZ)-resistance is a major challenge in glioblastoma therapy. Therefore, identifying the key molecular player in chemo-resistance becomes urgent. We previously reported the downregulation of PDCD10 in primary glioblastoma patients and its tumor suppressor-like function in glioblastoma cells.

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Objectives: To evaluate the effect of different dosage parameters of focused-extracorporeal shock wave therapy on pain and physical function in knee osteoarthritis patients with bone marrow lesions. In addition, to investigate pathophysiological changes based on imaging and biomarker measures.

Methods: Using a single-case experimental design, a total of 12 participants were randomly allocated in 4 equal groups of 3 to receive different dosages of focused-extracorporeal shock wave therapy.

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Objective: The purpose of this study will be to determine the efficacy of low intensity lower extremity resistance training with and without blood flow restriction (BFR) on quadriceps muscle strength and thickness in veterans with advanced multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: This will be an assessor-blinded, 2-group (1 to 1 allocation) randomized controlled trial targeting an enrollment of 58 participants with advanced MS as defined by Patient-Determined Disease Steps scale levels 4 to 7. Both groups will complete 10 weeks of twice weekly low-load resistance training (20%-30% of 1-repetition max) targeting knee and hip extension, knee flexion, and ankle plantarflexion.

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Understanding the relationship between biodiversity and productivity can be advanced by improving metrics used to quantify biodiversity. Structural diversity, that is, variation of size and form of plant organs, is an emerging biodiversity metric. However, compared with the other biodiversity metrics, its relative importance in specific components of forest productivity, for example, recruitment of new individuals, biomass net change after accounting for mortality, is largely unknown, particularly across a large spatial scale with multiple influential gradients.

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Tumor microtubes (TMs) connect glioma cells to a network with considerable relevance for tumor progression and therapy resistance. However, the determination of TM-interconnectivity in individual tumors is challenging and the impact on patient survival unresolved. Here, we establish a connectivity signature from single-cell RNA-sequenced (scRNA-Seq) xenografted primary glioblastoma (GB) cells using a dye uptake methodology, and validate it with recording of cellular calcium epochs and clinical correlations.

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The increase of tree canopy cover due to woody plant encroachment and tree plantations modifies both carbon and water dynamics. The tradeoffs between ecosystem net primary productivity (NPP) and water use with increasing tree cover in different climate conditions, particularly under future climate scenarios, are not well understood. Within the climate transition zone of the southern Great Plains, USA, we used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool+ (SWAT+) to investigate the combined impacts of increasing tree cover and climate change on carbon and water dynamics in three watersheds representing semiarid, subhumid, and humid climates.

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Intratumoral heterogeneity impacts the success or failure of anti-cancer therapies. Here, we investigated the evolution and mechanistic heterogeneity in clonal populations of cell models for estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. To this end, we established barcoded models of luminal breast cancer and rendered them resistant to commonly applied first line endocrine therapies.

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Epithelial membrane protein 3 (EMP3) is an N-glycosylated tetraspanin with a putative trafficking function. It is highly expressed in isocitrate dehydrogenase-wild-type glioblastoma (IDH-wt GBM), and its high expression correlates with poor survival. However, the exact trafficking role of EMP3 and how it promotes oncogenic signaling in GBM remain unclear.

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Bacterial contamination of surface water is a public health concern. To quantify the efflux of Escherichia coli into ephemeral and intermittent streams and assess its numbers in relation to secondary body contact standards, we monitored runoff and measured E. coli numbers from 10 experimental watersheds that differed in vegetation cover and cattle access in north-central Oklahoma.

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Background: Neuroligin 4 X-linked (NLGN4X) harbors a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*02-restricted tumor-associated antigen, overexpressed in human gliomas, that was found to induce specific cytotoxic T cell responses following multi-peptide vaccination in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Methods: T cell receptor (TCR) discovery was performed using droplet-based single-cell TCR sequencing of NLGN4X-tetramer-sorted T cells postvaccination. The identified TCR was delivered to Jurkat T cells and primary human T cells (NLGN4X-TCR-T).

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Hyper-angiogenesis is a typical feature of glioblastoma (GBM), the most aggressive brain tumor. We have reported the expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A3 (ALDH1A3) in proliferating vasculature in GBM patients. We hypothesized that ALDH1A3 may act as an angiogenesis promoter in GBM.

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Forest-grassland ecotones are a mosaic of grassland, savanna, and upland forest. As such, landowners may have opportunities to choose to manage their lands for multiple objectives. We estimated the economic returns from managing forest and rangeland in southeastern Oklahoma, USA to produce different combinations of timber, cattle forage, and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann) browse for a 40-year period.

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Active management such as prescribed fire and thinning can restore savanna and prairie ecosystem to maintain a full suite of ecosystem services and create suitable habitat for wildlife species such as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Active management comes with the cost of management and acceptance of management tools. The south-central transitional ecoregion of the USA, which otherwise was a mixture of forest, savanna, and tallgrass prairie, is increasing in woody plant dominance due to the exclusion of fire and other anthropogenic factors.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study looked at how small molecules called miRNAs affect cancer cells and their ability to be attacked by immune cells called T cells.
  • Researchers tested different miRNAs in skin cancer cells to see which ones made the cancer more vulnerable to being destroyed by T cells.
  • They found specific miRNAs that helped the T cells work better against the cancer, which could help improve cancer treatments in the future.
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Plakophilin (PKP1) 1 is a member of the arm-repeat family of catenins and acts as a structural component of desmosomes, which are important stabilizers of cell-cell adhesion. Besides this, PKP1 also occurs in a non-junctional, cytoplasmic form contributing to post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Moreover, PKP1 is expressed in the prostate epithelium but its expression is frequently downregulated in prostate cancers with a more aggressive phenotype.

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Primary tumors and distant site metastases form a bidirectionally communicating system. Yet, the molecular mechanisms of this crosstalk are poorly understood. Here, we identified the proteolytically cleaved fragments of angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) as contextually active protumorigenic and antitumorigenic contributors in this communication ecosystem.

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Article Synopsis
  • Anticancer therapies are often hindered by mutations that lead to treatment resistance, similar to how bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics through the SOS response.
  • In lung cancer patients treated with EGFR inhibitors, the upregulation of GAS6 and its receptor AXL was linked to the survival of drug-tolerant persister cells, indicating a mechanism of resistance.
  • Targeting the AXL pathway in combination therapies showed potential in overcoming resistance, suggesting new strategies for treating EGFR-mutant lung cancers.
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Cholera is a life-threatening infectious disease that remains an important public health issue in several low and middle-income countries. In 1992, a newly identified O139 Vibrio cholerae temporarily displaced the O1 serogroup. No study has been able to answer why the potential eighth cholera pandemic (8CP) causing V.

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From hillslope to small catchment scales (< 50 km), soil carbon management and mitigation policies rely on estimates and projections of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. Here we apply a process-based modeling approach that parameterizes the MIcrobial-MIneral Carbon Stabilization (MIMICS) model with SOC measurements and remotely sensed environmental data from the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed in SW Idaho, USA. Calibrating model parameters reduced error between simulated and observed SOC stocks by 25%, relative to the initial parameter estimates and better captured local gradients in climate and productivity.

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Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and isomiRs play important roles in tumorigenesis as essential regulators of gene expression. 5'isomiRs exhibit a shifted seed sequence compared to the canonical miRNA, resulting in different target spectra and thereby extending the phenotypic impact of the respective common pre-miRNA. However, for most miRNAs, expression and function of 5'isomiRs have not been studied in detail yet.

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Air pollution is one of the foremost environmental threats to human health. However, the meteorological and social factors that lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we use Principal Component Analysis and Generalized Linear Model (PCA-GLM) to investigate the combined effect of socioeconomic development and air pollution on cardiorespiratory hospitalization in southern Brazil.

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Introduction: Tranexamic acid can decrease blood loss related to surgery and trauma. The primary objective of this study is to examine if the use of a single dose of peri-operative TXA significantly decreases the rate of allogenic blood transfusions in the setting of operative care of hip fractures. Secondary objectives included examining if total blood loss was decreased by TXA in operative hip fractures as well as examining the safety of TXA by measuring the rates venous thromboembolism (VTE).

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