Prognostic models for progression-free survival in atypical meningioma: Comparison of machine learning-based approach and the COX model in an Asian multicenter study.

Background And Purpose: Atypical meningiomas are prevalent intracranial tumors with varied prognoses and recurrence rates. The role of adjuvant radiotherapy (ART) in atypical meningiomas remains debated. This study aimed to develop and validate a prognostic model incorporating machine learning techniques and clinical factors to predict progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with atypical meningiomas and assess the impact of ART.

Nuclear microRNA 9 mediates G-quadruplex formation and 3D genome organization during TGF-β-induced transcription.

The dynamics of three-dimensional (3D) genome organization are essential to transcriptional regulation. While enhancers regulate spatiotemporal gene expression, chromatin looping is a means for enhancer-promoter interactions yielding cell-type-specific gene expression. Further, non-canonical DNA secondary structures, such as G-quadruplexes (G4s), are related to increased gene expression.

Portable head CT motion artifact correction via diffusion-based generative model.

Portable head CT images often suffer motion artifacts due to the prolonged scanning time and critically ill patients who are unable to hold still. Image-domain motion correction is attractive for this application as it does not require CT projection data. This paper describes and evaluates a generative model based on conditional diffusion to correct motion artifacts in portable head CT scans.

Longitudinal changes in tenofovir and tenofovir-diphosphate concentrations among pregnant women using oral PrEP for HIV prevention: Findings from Durban, South Africa.

Background: Pregnant women are vulnerable to HIV acquisition. Oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is safe and effective for use during pregnancy. We describe PrEP adherence among pregnant women using multiple measures.

CAR-T cell therapy for the treatment of adult high-grade gliomas.

Treatment for malignant primary brain tumors, including glioblastoma, remains a significant challenge despite advances in therapy. CAR-T cell immunotherapy represents a promising alternative to conventional treatments. This review discusses the landscape of clinical trials for CAR-T cell therapy targeting brain tumors, highlighting key advancements like novel target antigens and combinatorial strategies designed to address tumor heterogeneity and immunosuppression, with the goal of improving outcomes for patients with these aggressive cancers.

Theophylline alleviates cyclophosphamide-induced T cell senescence by downregulating acetylation of p53 at lysine 373.

Cyclophosphamide is a widely used immunosuppressive and chemotherapeutic agent in clinics. Previous studies have indicated that cyclophosphamide treatment induces cellular senescence in patients, although the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we reported that cyclophosphamide induced T cell senescence in the spleen of mice.

Readmission outcomes after acute coronary syndrome among patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Background And Aims: Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are associated with arterial thrombosis, including acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Prior studies have suggested similar in-hospital mortality among patients with MPN compared to those without. However, post-ACS outcomes have not been thoroughly evaluated.

Cutaneous Immune Responses to Ablative Fractional Laser, Heat- and Cold-Based Dermatological Procedures.

Objective: Physical treatment modalities, such as ablative fractional laser (AFL), electrocautery, and cryotherapy, are extensively used in the field of dermatology. This study aimed to characterize the short-term innate and adaptive immune responses induced by AFL compared with heat- and cold-based procedures.

Materials And Methods: Innate (CD11bLy6G neutrophils) and adaptive (CD8CD3 T cells) immune cell infiltration and histopathological changes were examined in murine skin on Days 1 and 7, following AFL, monopolar-electrocautery (RF), thermocautery, and cryotherapy.

Greater baseline cortical atrophy in the dorsal attention network predicts faster clinical decline in Posterior Cortical Atrophy.

Background: Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA) is a clinical syndrome characterized by progressive visuospatial and visuoperceptual impairment. As the neurodegenerative disease progresses, patients lose independent functioning due to the worsening of initial symptoms and development of symptoms in other cognitive domains. The timeline of clinical progression is variable across patients, and the field currently lacks robust methods for prognostication.

ATP-mediated signaling of P2X7 receptors controls donor extracellular vesicle release and MHC cross-decoration after allotransplantation.

After skin allotransplantation, intercellular transfer of donor MHC molecules mediated primarily by extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by the allograft is known to contribute to semi-direct and indirect activation of alloreactive T cells involved in graft rejection. At the same time, there is ample evidence showing that initiation of adaptive alloimmunity depends on early innate inflammation caused by tissue injury and subsequent activation of myeloid cells (macrophages and dendritic cells) recognizing danger associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Among these DAMPs, extracellular ATP plays a key role in innate inflammation through binding to P2X7 receptors.

Antibiotic Use and Subsequent Cognitive Decline and Dementia Risk in Healthy Older Adults.

Background And Objectives: Antibiotics rapidly reduce intestinal bacterial diversity, leading to dysbiosis that persists for months to years. Although emerging evidence from retrospective and claims-based studies has linked dysbiosis to cognitive function, prospective data are lacking. We aim to examine the prospective association of antibiotics with cognitive aging among initially healthy older adults.

Understanding rare genetic variants within the terminal pathway of complement system in preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia is a common multifactorial disease of pregnancy. Dysregulation of complement activation is among emerging candidates responsible for disease pathogenesis. In a targeted exomic sequencing study of 609 women with preeclampsia and 2092 non-preeclamptic controls, we identified 14 variants within nine genes coding for components of the membrane attack complex (MAC, C5b-9) that are associated with preeclampsia.

Deep profiling of gene expression across 18 human cancers.

Clinical and biological information in large datasets of gene expression across cancers could be tapped with unsupervised deep learning. However, difficulties associated with biological interpretability and methodological robustness have made this impractical. Here we describe an unsupervised deep-learning framework for the generation of low-dimensional latent spaces for gene-expression data from 50,211 transcriptomes across 18 human cancers.

Trimodal Brain Imaging: A Novel Approach for Simultaneous Investigation of Human Brain Function.

While advancements have improved the extent to which individual brain imaging approaches capture information regarding spatial or temporal dynamics of brain activity, the connections between these aspects and their relation to psychological functioning remain only partially understood. Acquisition and integration across multiple brain imaging modalities allows for the possible clarification of these connections. The present review provides an overview of three complementary modalities - functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography/event-related potentials (EEG/ERP), and event-related optical signals (EROS)- and discusses progress and considerations for each modality, along with a summary of a novel protocol for acquiring them simultaneously.

Drinking pattern and time lag of alcohol consumption with colorectal cancer risk in US men and women.

Background: Association between light to moderate alcohol consumption and colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence remains understudied, especially regarding drinking pattern, beverage type and temporal aspects.

Methods: Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for time to CRC diagnosis were estimated among 137,710 participants. Estimates based on remote (eg, >10 years before follow-up) and recent (eg, the preceding 10 years before follow-up) alcohol intake, using different cutoffs (eg, 8, 10, 12 years, etc) and mutual adjustment, enabled separating independent effects and investigating time lag of alcohol-CRC association.

Stepwise pathways from the olfactory cortex to central hub regions in the human brain.

The human brain is organized as a hierarchical global network. Functional connectivity research reveals that sensory cortices are connected to corresponding association cortices via a series of intermediate nodes linked by synchronous neural activity. These sensory pathways and relay stations converge onto central cortical hubs such as the default-mode network (DMN).

Conversion of α-linolenic acid into n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids: bioavailability and dietary regulation.

N-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFAs) are essential for physiological requirements and disease prevention throughout life but are not adequately consumed worldwide. Dietary supplementation with plant-derived α-linolenic acid (ALA) has the potential to rebalance the fatty acid profile and enhance health benefits but faces challenges such as high β-oxidation consumption, low hepatic conversion efficiency, and high oxidative susceptibility under stress. This review focuses on the metabolic fate and potential regulatory targets of ALA-containing lipids , specifically the pathway from the gastrointestinal tract to the lymph, blood circulation, and liver.

Temporal dynamics of fluorescence and photoacoustic signals of a Cetuximab-IRDye800 conjugate in EGFR-overexpressing tumors.

Molecular fluorescence-guided surgery has shown promise for tumor margin delineation but is limited by its depth profiling capability. Interestingly, most fluorophores, either clinically approved or in clinical trials, can also be used as photoacoustic contrast agents, yet their use is limited due to the low light fluence permitted for clinical use and the limited sensitivity of current photoacoustic imaging systems. There is therefore an urgent unmet need to establish methods for enhancing contrast in molecular targeted PA imaging which could potentially complement and overcome limitations in molecular fluorescence guided therapies.

Leucine zipper-based SAIM imaging identifies therapeutic agents to disrupt the cancer cell glycocalyx for enhanced immunotherapy.

The abnormally thick glycocalyx of cancer cells can provide a physical barrier to immune cell recognition and effective immunotherapy. Here, we demonstrate an optical method based on Scanning Angle Interference Microscopy (SAIM) for the screening of therapeutic agents that can disrupt the glycocalyx layer as a strategy to improve anti-cancer immune responses. We developed a new membrane labeling strategy utilizing leucine zipper pairs to fluorescently mark the glycocalyx layer boundary for precise and robust measurement of glycocalyx thickness with SAIM.

Relationship Between Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Background: There is substantial hospital-level variation in 30-day risk-standardized mortality rate (RSMR) and risk-standardized readmission rate (RSRR) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). However, the relationship between hospital RSMRs and RSRRs has not been well characterized.

Methods: We analyzed data on 141,905 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries who underwent TAVR across 512 hospitals between October 1, 2015 and December 31, 2020.

Dupilumab as an Adjunct to Oral Immunotherapy in Pediatric Patients With Peanut Allergy.

Background: Peanut allergy is a common, life-threatening food allergy in children. We evaluated whether dupilumab, which blocks the activity of interleukin (IL)-4/IL-13, enhances the efficacy of oral immunotherapy (OIT) AR101 in pediatric patients with peanut allergy.

Methods: A Phase II, multicenter, randomized, double-blind study was conducted in the USA (NCT03682770) in pediatric patients (6-≤ 17 years old) with confirmed peanut allergy.

Commensal papillomavirus immunity preserves the homeostasis of highly mutated normal skin.

Immunosuppression commonly disrupts the homeostasis of mutated normal skin, leading to widespread skin dysplasia and field cancerization. However, the immune system's role in maintaining the normal state of mutated tissues remains uncertain. Herein, we demonstrate that T cell immunity to cutaneotropic papillomaviruses promotes the homeostasis of ultraviolet radiation-damaged skin.