Dosimetric Advantage of Combined IMRT for Whole Lung and Abdomen Irradiation for Wilms Tumor.

Purpose: In patients with Wilms tumor with lung metastases, a cardiac-sparing intensity modulated radiation therapy (CS-IMRT) technique is increasingly being adopted for whole lung irradiation. However, the standard technique for flank and whole abdomen radiation remains 2-dimensional anterioposterior (AP), and overlap at the junction between the whole lung CS-IMRT and abdominal AP fields can result in overdose to normal organs. Here, we compared the dosimetry of patients who received whole lung irradiation and flank or abdominal radiation therapy with CS-IMRT with AP abdominal field (IMRT-AP) versus CS-IMRT with IMRT abdominal field (combined IMRT).

Analysis of Faculty Gender and Race in Scholarly Achievements in Academic Neurology.

Intersection of gender and race and/or ethnicity in academic medicine is understudied; we aim to understand these factors in relation to scholarly achievements for neurology faculty. Faculty from 19 US neurology departments completed a survey (2021-2022) to report rank, leadership positions, publications, funded projects, awards, and speaker invitations. Regression analyses examined effects of gender, race, and their intersectionality on these achievements.

Custom fabricated three-dimensional printed surgical guide for trephine bur in autogenous bone graft: A technique report.

This technique presents a workflow that designs the custom surgical guide to cover a trephine bur using simple slicer software and three-dimensional (3D) printing to perform the semilunar technique. This method in autogenous bone grafting surgery harvests a thin layer of cortical bone in the donor site with a trephine bur. Its biologically favorable, round shape can be used as a shell to reconstruct the ridge with a 3D contour acceptable for future implant placement.

Report of the 2023-2024 Strategic Engagement Standing Committee.

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy has long emphasized the value of strategic engagement, recognizing that it is critical to the success of pharmacy education, contributing to the expansion of pharmacy and public health practice, the fulfillment of institutional missions, and the meeting of programmatic needs. The 2023-2024 Strategic Engagement Committee was charged with operationalizing advocacy champions, creating an advocacy resource guide to support advocacy champions in their engagement with diverse public and private stakeholders, offering formal training to advocacy champions in the form of a new connect community and webinar series, and conducting focus groups at the 2024 Annual Meeting to determine strengths of the advocacy guide and opportunities to support advocacy champions further.

Lithium-coupled electron transfer reactions of nano-confined WO within Zr-based metal-organic framework.

Interfacial charge transfer reactions involving cations and electrons are fundamental to (photo/electro) catalysis, energy storage, and beyond. Lithium-coupled electron transfer (LCET) at the electrode-electrolyte interfaces of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is a preeminent example to highlight the importance of charge transfer in modern-day society. The thermodynamics of LCET reactions define the minimal energy for charge/discharge of LIBs, and yet, these parameters are rarely available in the literature.

Neighbourhood inequities in the availability of retailers selling tobacco products: a systematic review.

Objective: To examine inequities in tobacco retailer availability by neighbourhood-level socioeconomic, racial/ethnic and same-sex couple composition.

Data Sources: We conducted a 10 November 2022 search of PubMed, PsycINFO, Global Health, LILACS, Embase, ABI/Inform, CINAHL, Business Source Complete, Web of Science and Scopus.

Study Selection: We included records from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries that tested associations of area-level measures of tobacco retailer availability and neighbourhood-level sociodemographic characteristics.

Retailers' Compliance with Federal Age of Cigarette Sales Policies -- Pitt County, North Carolina, January-March 2022.

Background: Tobacco use remains a leading cause of preventable morbidity and premature mortality. In December 2019, the federal age of sale for tobacco products increased from 18 to 21 years of age. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of federal tobacco 21 policies in Pitt County, North Carolina (NC), by conducting multiple purchase attempts for cigarettes.

Effectiveness of Gabapentin as a Benzodiazepine-Sparing Agent in Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome.

Gabapentin has shown promise as a potential agent for the treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of gabapentin as a benzodiazepine-sparing agent in patients undergoing alcohol withdrawal treatment in all the hospitals of a large tertiary healthcare system. Medical records of patients admitted to the hospital for alcohol withdrawal management between 1 January 2020 and 31 August 2022 were reviewed.

Adipocyte Mitochondria: Deciphering Energetic Functions across Fat Depots in Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.

Adipose tissue, a central player in energy balance, exhibits significant metabolic flexibility that is often compromised in obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Mitochondrial dysfunction within adipocytes leads to inefficient lipid handling and increased oxidative stress, which together promote systemic metabolic disruptions central to obesity and its complications. This review explores the pivotal role that mitochondria play in altering the metabolic functions of the primary adipocyte types, white, brown, and beige, within the context of obesity and T2D.

Potential of covalently linked tamoxifen hybrids for cancer treatment: recent update.

Cancer is a complex disease and the second leading cause of death globally, and breast cancer is still a leading cause of cancer death in women. Tamoxifen is the most commonly used drug for breast cancer (ER-positive) treatment and chemoprevention, saving the lives of millions of patients every year. In addition, the tamoxifen template has been explored extensively for the development of selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) applicable in breast cancer, osteoporosis, and postmenopausal symptom treatment.

Small field measurements using electronic portal imaging device.

. Small-field measurement poses challenges. Although many high-resolution detectors are commercially available, the EPID for small-field dosimetry remains underexplored.

Randomized clinical trial to compare three fluoride varnishes in preventing early childhood caries.

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of two 5% sodium fluoride (NaF) varnishes containing casein phosphopeptide amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) (MI Varnish) or tricalcium phosphate (TCP) (Clinpro White) to the conventional 5% NaF varnish (Duraphat®) in preventing early childhood caries (ECC) in high-risk preschool children.

Methods: A double-blinded, randomized controlled trial recruited healthy 3-4-year-old children (N = 582) having at least one carious lesion (pre-cavitated or cavitated) after obtaining written informed consent from parents. Using a computer-generated random-number table, children were assigned to one of the 3 groups: Control group (n = 196): 5% NaF varnish (Duraphat®) or two test groups: 5% NaF with TCP (Clinpro™ White) (n = 193) and 5% NaF varnish with CPP-ACP (MI Varnish™) (n = 193) to receive quarterly (every 3 months) application over 24 months.

Strongly-confined colloidal lead-halide perovskite quantum dots: from synthesis to applications.

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals enable the realization and exploitation of quantum phenomena in a controlled manner, and can be scaled up for commercial uses. These materials have become important for a wide range of applications, from ultrahigh definition displays, to solar cells, quantum computing, bioimaging, optical communications, and many more. Over the last decade, lead-halide perovskite nanocrystals have rapidly gained prominence as efficient semiconductors.

Ovarian Cancer Cell-Conditioning Medium Induces Cancer-Associated Fibroblast Phenoconversion through Glucose-Dependent Inhibition of Autophagy.

One aspect of ovarian tumorigenesis which is still poorly understood is the tumor-stroma interaction, which plays a major role in chemoresistance and tumor progression. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), the most abundant stromal cell type in the tumor microenvironment, influence tumor growth, metabolism, metastasis, and response to therapy, making them attractive targets for anti-cancer treatment. Unraveling the mechanisms involved in CAFs activation and maintenance is therefore crucial for the improvement of therapy efficacy.

Decoding CPK/SnRK Superfamily Kinase Client Signaling Networks Using Peptide Library and Mass Spectrometry.

Members of the calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK/CPK) and SNF-related protein kinase (SnRK) superfamilies are commonly found in plants and some protists. Our knowledge of client specificity of the members of this superfamily is fragmentary. As this family is represented by over 30 members in , the identification of kinase-specific and overlapping client relationships is crucial to our understanding the nuances of this large family of kinases as directed towards signal transduction pathways.

Ceftaroline in CNS and ocular infections: a case series.

Background: There are limited data describing outcomes of patients treated with ceftaroline for infections with CNS or ocular involvement.

Objectives: To describe outcomes of patients treated with ceftaroline for methicillin-resistant staphylococcal infections involving the CNS or eye.

Patients And Methods: This was a retrospective review of 10 patients at an academic medical centre who received ceftaroline for CNS or ocular infections.

Aberrant activation of AXL may drive progression of squamous cell carcinoma in CLL patients: a mechanistic study with clinical implications.

Background: Occurrence of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) even in early-stage, untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients can be a significant morbidity issue with occasional transformation into metastatic skin lesions.

Methods: CLL cells and extracellular vesicles (EVs) from CLL patients' blood/plasma were purified and used. Expression/activation of AXL and its functions in normal keratinocytes (HEKa) were assessed in vitro co-culture system and in SCC tissues.

Binary classification of dead detector elements in flat panel detectors using convolutional neural networks.

Medical physicists routinely perform quality assurance on digital detection systems, part of which involves the testing of flat panel detectors. Flat panels may degrade over time as an increasing number of individual detector elements begin to malfunction. The pixels that correspond to these elements are corrected for using information elsewhere in the detector system, however these corrected elements still constitute a loss in image quality for the system as a whole.

Pre-Pandemic Landscape of the Oklahoma Public Health Workforce: A Case Study From the Region 6 Training Needs Assessment Survey, 2019.

Context: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for a well-trained public health workforce prior to the public health crisis. Public health training centers regularly assess workforce needs and their pre-pandemic data play vital roles in guiding public health workforce development beyond the crisis.

Program: In 2019, Oklahoma partners of the Region 6 South Central Public Health Training Center (R6SCPHTC) co-conducted an online survey of the public health workforce located in the Health Resources & Services Administration Region 6.

Distant relatives of a eukaryotic cell-specific toxin family evolved a complement-like mechanism to kill bacteria.

Cholesterol-dependent cytolysins (CDCs) comprise a large family of pore-forming toxins produced by Gram-positive bacteria, which are used to attack eukaryotic cells. Here, we functionally characterize a family of 2-component CDC-like (CDCL) toxins produced by the Gram-negative Bacteroidota that form pores by a mechanism only described for the mammalian complement membrane attack complex (MAC). We further show that the Bacteroides CDCLs are not eukaryotic cell toxins like the CDCs, but instead bind to and are proteolytically activated on the surface of closely related species, resulting in pore formation and cell death.

Heat Transfer Enhancement in Industrial Heat Exchangers Using Graphene Oxide Nanofluids.

In this study, the heat transfer characteristics within the heat exchanger using water-based GO nanofluids were comprehensively assessed. An apparatus was constructed by scaling down an industrial heat exchanger. The nanofluid's thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, viscosity, density, Prandtl number, and Nusselt number were examined at varying temperatures and GO nanoparticle concentrations.

Smartphone-Based Survey and Message Compliance in Adults Initially Unready to Quit Smoking: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Efficacy of smartphone-based interventions depends on intervention content quality and level of exposure to that content. Smartphone-based survey completion rates tend to decline over time; however, few studies have identified variables that predict this decline over longer-term interventions (eg, 26 weeks).

Objective: This study aims to identify predictors of survey completion and message viewing over time within a 26-week smoking cessation trial.