Advancing surgical education: An evaluation of laparoscopic simulation training for medical students.

Objective: To examine the medical students' awareness of laparoscopic surgery as well as assess the perceived importance of laparoscopic simulation training, and its impact on students' confidence, career aspirations, proficiency, spatial skills, and physical tolerance.

Design: Descriptive and comparative study using pre- and post-training assessments.

Setting: Simulation training sessions centred on laparoscopic surgery techniques.

Endothelial Cpt1a Inhibits Neonatal Hyperoxia-Induced Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling by Repressing Endothelial-Mesenchymal Transition.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) increases the mortality of preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). There are no curative therapies for this disease. Lung endothelial carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1a (Cpt1a), the rate-limiting enzyme of the carnitine shuttle system, is reduced in a rodent model of BPD.

Protocol for transcriptomic and epigenomic analyses of tip-like endothelial cells using scRNA-seq and ChIP-seq.

Angiogenesis begins as endothelial cells migrate, forming a sprouting tip and subsequent growth-rich stalk cells. Here, we present a protocol for transcriptomic and epigenomic analyses of tip-like cells in cultured endothelial cells. We describe steps for stimulating human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) to generate tip-like cells.

Protocol for the purification of the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase from transplastomic tobacco plants.

The plastid-encoded RNA polymerase (PEP) plays an essential role in the transcription of the chloroplast genome. Here, we present a strategy to purify the transcriptionally active protein complex from transplastomic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) lines in which one of the PEP core subunits is fused to an epitope tag. We describe experimental procedures for designing transformation constructs for PEP purification, selection, and analysis of transplastomic tobacco plants.

Protocol for differentiating hematopoietic progenitor cells from human pluripotent stem cells in chemically defined monolayer culture.

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) provide a powerful platform for generating hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) and investigating hematopoietic development. Here, we present a protocol for maintaining hPSCs and inducing their differentiation into HPCs through the endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition (EHT) on vitronectin-coated plates. We outline steps for evaluating the efficiency of HPC generation and assessing their potential to differentiate into various hematopoietic lineages.

A conserved switch to less catalytically active Polycomb repressive complexes in non-dividing cells.

Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), composed of the core subunits EED, SUZ12, and either EZH1 or EZH2, is critical for maintaining cellular identity in multicellular organisms. PRC2 deposits H3K27me3, which is thought to recruit the canonical form of PRC1 (cPRC1) to promote gene repression. Here, we show that EZH1-PRC2 and cPRC1 are the primary Polycomb complexes on target genes in non-dividing, quiescent cells.

IL-7 promotes integrated glucose and amino acid sensing during homeostatic CD4 T cell proliferation.

Interleukin (IL)-7 promotes T cell expansion during lymphopenia. We studied the metabolic basis in CD4 T cells, observing increased glucose usage for nucleotide synthesis and oxidation in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Unlike other TCA metabolites, glucose-derived citrate does not accumulate upon IL-7 exposure, indicating diversion into other processes.

Cadmium Reduces VE-Cadherin Expression in Endothelial Cells Through Activation of the Notch Signaling Pathway.

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal which induces vascular disorders. Previous studies suggest that Cd in the bloodstream affects vascular endothelial cells (ECs), potentially contributing to vascular-related diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms of effects of Cd on ECs remain poorly understood.

Harnessing miRNAs: A Novel Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment of Tuberculosis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) complex, responsible for tuberculosis (TB) infection, continues to be a predominant global cause of mortality due to intricate host-pathogen interactions that affect disease progression. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), essential posttranscriptional regulators, have become pivotal modulators of these relationships. Recent findings indicate that miRNAs actively regulate immunological responses to Mtb complex by modulating autophagy, apoptosis, and immune cell activities.

Methodological standards for comparative effectiveness research: considerations for evidentiary review for medicare drug price negotiation.

Introduction: The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is expected to result in lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries in the United States (US). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the most recent draft guidance for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation (DPN) program in May 2024.

Areas Covered: In August 2023, the list of 10 drugs selected for the DPN were published and the first round of negotiations are now complete.

Maternal Bisphenol A Exposure Induces Hippocampal-Dependent Learning and Memory Deficits Through the PI3K/Akt/mTOR Pathway in Male Offspring Rats.

Bisphenol A (BPA), an environmental endocrine disrupting chemical, is one of the most widely used chemicals in the world and is widely distributed in the external environment, specifically in food, water, dust, and soil. BPA exposure is associated with abnormal cognitive behaviors. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear.

GWAS analysis revealed genomic loci and candidate genes associated with the 100-seed weight in high-latitude-adapted soybean germplasm.

In the present study, we identified 22 significant SNPs, eight stable QTLs and 17 potential candidate genes associated with 100-seed weight in soybean. Soybean is an economically important crop that is rich in seed oil and protein. The 100-seed weight (HSW) is a crucial yield contributing trait.

Transforming cancer screening: the potential of multi-cancer early detection (MCED) technologies.

Early cancer detection substantially improves the rate of patient survival; however, conventional screening methods are directed at single anatomical sites and focus primarily on a limited number of cancers, such as gastric, colorectal, lung, breast, and cervical cancer. Additionally, several cancers are inadequately screened, hindering early detection of 45.5% cases.

A real-time approach for surgical activity recognition and prediction based on transformer models in robot-assisted surgery.

Purpose: This paper presents a deep learning approach to recognize and predict surgical activity in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RAMIS). Our primary objective is to deploy the developed model for implementing a real-time surgical risk monitoring system within the realm of RAMIS.

Methods: We propose a modified Transformer model with the architecture comprising no positional encoding, 5 fully connected layers, 1 encoder, and 3 decoders.

Migrasome-related prognostic signature TSPAN4 correlates with immune infiltrates and metabolic disturbances in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: We aim to comprehensively analyze and validate the prognostic efficacy of tetraspanin 4 (TSPAN4) and several other migrasome-related markers in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: The expression, diagnostic, and prognostic efficacy of five migrasome-related genes in HCC were analyzed using several databases. Five pairs of adjacent non-tumor tissues and HCC tissues were used to validate the expression.

Determination of optimal sedation depth in sleep endoscopy with bispectrometry and simultaneous polysomnography.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the localization and configuration of vibration and obstruction in drug-induced sleep endoscopy(DISE) in obstructive sleep apnea patients and to investigate the optimal sedation depth.

Materials And Methods: The study was conducted prospectively with 42 patients. After achieving sedation with intravenous anesthetic agents, simultaneous monitoring of the patient's bispectrometry (BIS), DISE and sleep testing with a type 2 polysomnography device were performed.

Funmap: integrating high-dimensional functional annotations to improve fine-mapping.

Motivation: Fine-mapping aims to prioritize causal variants underlying complex traits by accounting for the linkage disequilibrium of GWAS risk locus. The expanding resources of functional annotations serve as auxiliary evidence to improve the power of fine-mapping. However, existing fine-mapping methods tend to generate many false positive results when integrating a large number of annotations.

The clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with systemic polyarteritis nodosa (PAN): a single centre study from India.

Objectives: To describe the clinical profile and compare the long-term outcomes of patients with S-PAN treated with various treatment regimens at our centre in the last 2 decades.

Methods: Data regarding clinical presentation, treatment allocation, relapses and outcomes of patients fulfilling American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1990 criteria for PAN in the last 2 decades were recorded from electronic medical records. Relapse-free survival and predictors were analysed using KM survival statistics and regression analysis.

Sex Differences in Melanoma Survival-a GEM study.

Sex differences in melanoma are prominent, with females having a significant survival advantage. However, it is unclear why we see this survival advantage. Here we investigate the relationship between sex, clinicopathologic variables, and melanoma specific survival in 1,753 single primary melanomas from patients in the GEM study.

Making the Case for an International Childhood Cancer Data Partnership.

Childhood cancers are a heterogeneous group of rare diseases, accounting for less than 2% of all cancers diagnosed worldwide. Most countries, therefore, do not have enough cases to provide robust information on epidemiology, treatment, and late effects, especially for rarer types of cancer. Thus, only through a concerted effort to share data internationally will we be able to answer research questions that could not otherwise be answered.

Seroprevalence of specific antibodies to Treponema pallidum in blood donors with DNA confirmation of seropositivity.

The rising global incidence of syphilis underscores the risk of transmission through blood transfusions. Treponema pallidum, the pathogen responsible for syphilis, represents a major public health challenge. Accurate detection is essential for controlling the disease, particularly in asymptomatic blood donors.