Assessing natural infection with Zika virus in the southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, during 2016 in Puerto Rico.

The epidemic of Zika in the Western hemisphere has led to intense investigations of all species important in the transmission of Zika virus (ZikV), including putative mosquito vectors. Although evidence points to Stegomyia (= Aedes) (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes as the primary vectors in nature among humans, there remains the possibility that other common mosquito species may be implicated in the rapid spread of the virus. Herein, field-caught Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) collected during June 2016 in different neighbourhoods in San Juan, Puerto Rico were examined for the presence of natural infection with ZikV.

Initial clinical assessment of "center-specific" automated treatment plans for low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy.

Purpose: To report results of an initial pilot study assessing iodine-125 prostate implant treatment plans created automatically by a new seed-placement method.

Methods And Materials: A novel mixed-integer linear programming method incorporating spatial constraints on seed locations in addition to standard dose-volume constraints was used to place seeds. The approach, described in detail elsewhere, was used to create treatment plans fully automatically on a retrospective basis for 20 patients having a wide range of prostate sizes and shapes.

Evaluating performance of a user-trained MR lung tumor autocontouring algorithm in the context of intra- and interobserver variations.

Purpose: Real-time tracking of lung tumors using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been proposed as a potential strategy to mitigate the ill-effects of breathing motion in radiation therapy. Several autocontouring methods have been evaluated against a "gold standard" of a single human expert user. However, contours drawn by experts have inherent intra- and interobserver variations.

Revisiting the IGF-1R as a breast cancer target.

The type I insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor is a well-described target in breast cancer and multiple clinical trials examining insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor have been completed. Unfortunately, monoclonal antibodies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor failed in phase III breast clinical trials for several reasons. First, insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor antibody therapy resulted in hyperglycemia and metabolic syndrome most likely due to disruption of insulin-like growth factor-1 homeostasis and subsequent growth hormone elevation.

Mobile Phone Multilevel and Multimedia Messaging Intervention for Breast Cancer Screening: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Despite the increasing breast cancer incidence and mortality rates, Korean American immigrant women have one of the lowest rates of breast cancer screening across racial groups in the United States. Mobile health (mHealth), defined as the delivery of health care information or services through mobile communication devices, has been utilized to successfully improve a variety of health outcomes.

Objective: This study adapted the principles of mHealth to advance breast cancer prevention efforts among Korean American immigrant women, an underserved community.

MicroRNA-155 induction via TNF-α and IFN-γ suppresses expression of programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) in human primary cells.

Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is a critical regulator of T cell function contributing to peripheral immune tolerance. Although it has been shown that posttranscriptional regulatory mechanisms control PD-L1 expression in cancer, it remains unknown whether such regulatory loops operate also in non-transformed cells. Here we studied PD-L1 expression in human dermal lymphatic endothelial cells (HDLECs), which play key roles in immunity and cancer.

Warfarin-Rifampin Drug Interaction in a Pediatric Patient.

Rifampin has been documented to significantly attenuate the effect of warfarin in adult patients. No data have been presented on the use of rifampin and warfarin in a pediatric patient. We report an extreme case of increased warfarin metabolism in a pediatric patient who was concomitantly receiving rifampin, despite receiving other medications that significantly decrease warfarin metabolism.

Automatic Identification of Human Blastocyst Components via Texture.

Choosing the most viable embryo during human in vitro fertilization (IVF) is a prime factor in maximizing pregnancy rate. Embryologists visually inspect morphological structures of blastocysts under microscopes to gauge their health. Such grading introduces subjectivity amongst embryologists and adds to the difficulty of quality control during IVF.

Oviposition preference and offspring performance in container breeding mosquitoes: evaluating the effects of organic compounds and laboratory colonisation.

The preference-performance hypothesis predicts that organisms lacking parental care should oviposit in habitats that optimize offspring performance. We investigated preference-performance relationships for the Asian tiger mosquito ( Skuse) and the southern house mosquito ( Say) (Diptera:Culicidae), two medically important container-breeding species, in response to an organic chemical blend mimicking decaying plant matter. Additionally, we evaluated the effects of long-term laboratory colonization of by using wild and laboratory strains.

Population Pharmacokinetics of Enoxaparin in Pediatric Patients.

Background: There are no studies evaluating the pharmacokinetics of enoxaparin in the hospitalized pediatric patient population.

Objective: To characterize the pharmacokinetics of enoxaparin in pediatric patients.

Methods: A retrospective review of inpatients 1 to 18 years of age admitted to our institution who received enoxaparin with anti-factor Xa activity level monitoring was performed.

DNA repair deficiency biomarkers and the 70-gene ultra-high risk signature as predictors of veliparib/carboplatin response in the I-SPY 2 breast cancer trial.

Veliparib combined with carboplatin (VC) was an experimental regimen evaluated in the biomarker-rich neoadjuvant I-SPY 2 trial for breast cancer. VC showed improved efficacy in the triple negative signature. However, not all triple negative patients achieved pathologic complete response and some HR+HER2- patients responded.

Enoxaparin Population Pharmacokinetics in the First Year of Life.

Aims: Enoxaparin dosing requirements in the first year of life can be highly variable. Characterization of pharmacokinetics in this patient population can assist in dosing.

Methods: Patients less than 1 year postnatal age who received enoxaparin and had an anti-factor Xa activity level drawn as inpatients were identified through the pharmacy database over a 5-year period.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Green Tea Extract Supplementation and Mammographic Density in Postmenopausal Women at Increased Risk of Breast Cancer.

Epidemiologic and animal studies suggest a protective role of green tea against breast cancer. However, the underlying mechanism is not understood. We conducted a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase II clinical trial to investigate whether supplementation with green tea extract (GTE) modifies mammographic density (MD), as a potential mechanism, involving 1,075 healthy postmenopausal women.

Heterogeneous drug penetrance of veliparib and carboplatin measured in triple negative breast tumors.

Background: Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi), coupled to a DNA damaging agent is a promising approach to treating triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, not all patients respond; we hypothesize that non-response in some patients may be due to insufficient drug penetration. As a first step to testing this hypothesis, we quantified and visualized veliparib and carboplatin penetration in mouse xenograft TNBCs and patient blood samples.

A Statewide Survey for Container-Breeding Mosquitoes in Mississippi.

Container-breeding mosquitoes are important in public health due to outbreaks of Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses. This paper documents the distribution of container-breeding mosquito species in Mississippi, with special emphasis on the genus Aedes. Five sites in each of the 82 Mississippi counties were sampled monthly between May 1 and August 31, 2016, and 50,109 mosquitoes in 14 species were collected.

Vascular function in breast cancer survivors on aromatase inhibitors: a pilot study.

Purpose: Aromatase inhibitors (AI) have been shown to reduce breast cancer-related mortality in women with estrogen positive (ER+) breast cancer. The use of AIs, however, has been associated with higher rates of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and cardiovascular (CV) events.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 25 healthy postmenopausal women and 36 women with curative intent breast cancer on an AI was performed to assess endothelial dysfunction, an indicator of risk for CV events.

The Role of Social Cue Utilization and Closing-the-Loop Communication in the Performance of Ad Hoc Dyads.

Objective: To examine whether social cue utilization impacts the performance of ad hoc dyads through its relationship with closing the loop, a communication process whereby team members respond more frequently to initiating statements made by others.

Background: There lacks unequivocal experimental evidence for any single cognitive-based process that might predict the performance of ad hoc teams.

Method: Using a quasi-experimental design, 80 participants were classified into 40 dyads based on their levels of social cue utilization and attempted a team problem-solving task.

A Review of the Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Development and Progression of Cardiac Remodeling.

Pathological molecular mechanisms involved in myocardial remodeling contribute to alter the existing structure of the heart, leading to cardiac dysfunction. Among the complex signaling network that characterizes myocardial remodeling, the distinct processes are myocyte loss, cardiac hypertrophy, alteration of extracellular matrix homeostasis, fibrosis, defective autophagy, metabolic abnormalities, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Several pathophysiological stimuli, such as pressure and volume overload, trigger the remodeling cascade, a process that initially confers protection to the heart as a compensatory mechanism.

Safety and efficacy of a glycoPEGylated rFVIII (turoctocog alpha pegol, N8-GP) in paediatric patients with severe haemophilia A.

Turoctocog alfa pegol (N8-GP, Novo Nordisk, Bagsværd, Denmark), an extended half-life glycoPEGylated recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII), is being developed for prophylaxis and treatment of bleeds in haemophilia A patients. pathfinder™5 is a multinational, open-label, single-arm trial to assess safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of N8-GP in paediatric (<12 years), previously treated patients. Boys with severe haemophilia A (<1 % FVIII), no history of inhibitors and previously treated with FVIII products (>50 exposure days [ED] for patients aged 0-5 years [younger cohort]; >150 ED for patients aged 6-11 years [older cohort]) were included.

Towards a Cognitive Radar: Canada's Third-Generation High Frequency Surface Wave Radar (HFSWR) for Surveillance of the 200 Nautical Mile Exclusive Economic Zone.

Canada's third-generation HFSWR forms the foundation of a maritime domain awareness system that provides enforcement agencies with real-time persistent surveillance out to and beyond the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Cognitive sense-and-adapt technology and dynamic spectrum management ensures robust and resilient operation in the highly congested High Frequency (HF) band. Dynamic spectrum access enables the system to simultaneously operate on two frequencies on a non-interference and non-protected basis, without impacting other spectrum users.

Long-term variation in concentrations and mass loads in a semi-arid watershed influenced by historic mercury mining and urban pollutant sources.

Urban watersheds are significantly anthropogenically-altered landscapes. Most previous studies cover relatively short periods, without addressing concentrations, loads, and yields in relation to annual climate fluctuations, and datasets on Ag, Se, PBDEs, and PCDD/Fs are rare. Intensive storm-focused sampling and continuous turbidity monitoring were employed to quantify pollution at two locations in the Guadalupe River (California, USA).

Population pharmacokinetics of human antithrombin concentrate in paediatric patients.

Aims: Antithrombin is increasingly used in paediatric patients, yet there are few age-specific pharmacokinetic data to guide dosing. We aimed to describe the pharmacokinetic profile of human (plasma-derived) antithrombin concentrate in paediatric patients.

Methods: A 5-year retrospective review was performed of patients <19 years of age admitted to our institution who received antithrombin concentrate, were not on mechanical circulatory support and had baseline (predose) and postdose plasma antithrombin activity levels available for analysis.

Unexpected Seed Migration in Prostate Brachytherapy Implants Coincident with Change in Seed Stranding Product.

Purpose: This study was undertaken to determine if significant seed migration occurred when our institution changed seed products by comparing patterns of seed migration in implants containing different stranding material.

Methods And Materials: Day 0 and Day 30 CT scans were registered by the contoured prostate center of mass. An implant reconstruction program identified seeds on CT according to the pre-plan, enabling one-to-one correspondence between Day 0 and Day 30 seeds.