Site-specific familial risk and survival of familial and sporadic head and neck cancer.

The vast majority of head and neck cancers (HNCs) are sporadic squamous cell carcinomas, smoking and heavy drinking being the main risk factors. However, little is known about the possible role of family history and the importance of inherited factors versus shared environment. We used Swedish population-based registries to study the family history of HNC.

Community-Level HIV Stigma as a Driver for HIV Transmission Risk Behaviors and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Sierra Leone: A Population-Based Study.

Introduction: Although HIV stigma has been identified as an important risk factor for HIV transmission risk behaviors, little is known about the contribution of community-level HIV stigma to HIV transmission risk behaviors and self-reported sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or how gender may modify associations.

Methods: We pooled data from the 2008 and 2013 Sierra Leone Demographic and Health Surveys. For HIV stigma, we examined HIV stigmatizing attitudes and HIV disclosure concerns at both individual and community levels.

Reproducibility and interobserver agreement of the R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry score: focus on imaging features.

Objective: To investigate the reproducibility and interobserver agreement for R.E.N.

A genome-wide CRISPR screen identifies a restricted set of HIV host dependency factors.

Host proteins are essential for HIV entry and replication and can be important nonviral therapeutic targets. Large-scale RNA interference (RNAi)-based screens have identified nearly a thousand candidate host factors, but there is little agreement among studies and few factors have been validated. Here we demonstrate that a genome-wide CRISPR-based screen identifies host factors in a physiologically relevant cell system.

Differences in survival for patients with familial and sporadic cancer.

Family history of cancer is a well-known risk factor but the role of family history in survival is less clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between family history and cancer survival for the common cancers in Sweden. Using the Swedish population-based registers, patients diagnosed with the most common cancers were followed for cancer-specific death during 1991-2010.

Cardiovascular responses to energy drinks in a healthy population: The C-energy study.

Background: Energy drink consumption has increased significantly over the past decade and is associated with greater than 20,000 emergency department visits per year. Most often these visits are due to cardiovascular complaints ranging from palpitations to cardiac arrest.

Objective: To determine if energy drinks alter; blood pressure, electrolytes, activated bleeding time (ACT), and/or cardiac responses measured with a 12-lead electrocardiographic (ECG) Holter.

Oligodendrocyte precursors migrate along vasculature in the developing nervous system.

Oligodendrocytes myelinate axons in the central nervous system and develop from oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) that must first migrate extensively during brain and spinal cord development. We show that OPCs require the vasculature as a physical substrate for migration. We observed that OPCs of the embryonic mouse brain and spinal cord, as well as the human cortex, emerge from progenitor domains and associate with the abluminal endothelial surface of nearby blood vessels.

An Endothelial Gene Signature Score Predicts Poor Outcome in Patients with Endocrine-Treated, Low Genomic Grade Breast Tumors.

Purpose: The ability of vascular genes to provide treatment predictive information in breast cancer patients remains unclear. As such, we assessed the expression of genes representative of normal endothelial microvasculature (MV) in relation to treatment-specific patient subgroups.

Experimental Design: We used expression data from 993 breast tumors to assess 57 MV genes (summarized to yield an MV score) as well as the genomic grade index (GGI) and PAM50 signatures.

Pandora's box: eosinophilic granuloma at the cerebellopontine angle-should we open it?

Background: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a disorder of immature LCH cells, eosinophils, macrophages, lymphocytes, and multinucleated giant cells. Eosinophilic granuloma (EG) is a focal form of LCH that presents mostly in the skull, femur, vertebrae, pelvis, mandible, and ribs. Intracranial presentation of EG is very rare in the literature.

Contrasting breast cancer molecular subtypes across serial tumor progression stages: biological and prognostic implications.

The relevance of the intrinsic subtypes for clinical management of metastatic breast cancer is not comprehensively established. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and prognostic significance of drifts in tumor molecular subtypes during breast cancer progression. A well-annotated cohort of 304 women with advanced breast cancer was studied.

Prevention of Acute Proximal Junctional Fractures After Long Thoracolumbar Posterior Fusions for Adult Spinal Deformity Using 2-level Cement Augmentation at the Upper Instrumented Vertebra and the Vertebra 1 Level Proximal to the Upper Instrumented Vertebra.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort analysis.

Objective: To evaluate efficacy of proximal junction fracture (PJF) prevention in adult spinal deformity (ASD) using 2-level cement augmentation at the construct's proximal extent.

Summary Of Background Data: Prevention of PJF after thoracolumbar fusions is critical because they may result in neurological injury.

Microarray Analysis in Glioblastomas.

Microarray analysis in glioblastomas is done using either cell lines or patient samples as starting material. A survey of the current literature points to transcript-based microarrays and immunohistochemistry (IHC)-based tissue microarrays as being the preferred methods of choice in cancers of neurological origin. Microarray analysis may be carried out for various purposes including the following: i.

MRC2014: Extensions to the MRC format header for electron cryo-microscopy and tomography.

The MRC binary file format is widely used in the three-dimensional electron microscopy field for storing image and volume data. Files contain a header which describes the kind of data held, together with other important metadata. In response to advances in electron microscopy techniques, a number of variants to the file format have emerged which contain useful additional data, but which limit interoperability between different software packages.

Proximate Context of HIV Stigma and Its Association with HIV Testing in Sierra Leone: A Population-Based Study.

The extent to which HIV stigma at the community level remains a barrier to greater uptake in HIV testing services is poorly understood. We used nationally representative data from the 2008 Sierra Leone Demographic and Health Survey. The primary outcome was HIV testing (past 12 months).

Incidence of headache as a presenting complaint in over 1000 patients with sellar lesions and factors predicting postoperative improvement.

Introduction: Due to the high incidence of headaches and pituitary tumors, neurosurgeons often evaluate patients with benign-appearing sellar lesions and headaches without insight into whether the headache is attributable to the lesion. We sought to evaluate the incidence of headache as a presenting complaint in patients undergoing transsphenoidal surgery for various pathologies and to identify factors predicting postoperative improvement.

Methods: We conducted a 5-year retrospective review of our first 1015 transsphenoidal surgeries since establishing a dedicated pituitary center.

Introducing conformal prediction in predictive modeling for regulatory purposes. A transparent and flexible alternative to applicability domain determination.

Conformal prediction is presented as a framework which fulfills the OECD principles on (Q)SAR. It offers an intuitive extension to the application of machine-learning methods to structure-activity data where focus is on predictions with pre-defined confidence levels. A conformal predictor will make correct predictions on new compounds corresponding to a user defined confidence level.

A difference-in-differences approach to estimate the effect of income-supplementation on food insecurity.

Objective: The Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) is a 2006 Canadian federal policy of income supplementation that provides parents with $100 monthly in Canadian dollars for each child aged <6years. The study main objective was to estimate the causal effect of UCCB on self-reported food insecurity overall and in vulnerable subgroups.

Method: The Canadian Community Health Survey (2001-2009) was used to conduct a difference-in-differences (DID) regression analysis for the effect of the UCCB on self-reported food insecurity.

Three-column osteotomies of the lower cervical and upper thoracic spine: comparison of early outcomes, radiographic parameters, and peri-operative complications in 48 patients.

Purpose: To evaluate and compare early radiographic and clinical outcomes of lower cervical and upper thoracic three-column osteotomies (3CO) for cervicothoracic kyphosis correction.

Methods: Patients who underwent 3CO at the cervicothoracic junction at two institutions were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into two groups: lower cervical osteotomy (LCO) and upper thoracic osteotomy (UTO: T1-T5).

Molecular subtype and tumor characteristics of breast cancer metastases as assessed by gene expression significantly influence patient post-relapse survival.

Background: We and others have recently shown that tumor characteristics are altered throughout tumor progression. These findings emphasize the need for re-examination of tumor characteristics at relapse and have led to recommendations from ESMO and the Swedish Breast Cancer group. Here, we aim to determine whether tumor characteristics and molecular subtypes in breast cancer metastases confer clinically relevant prognostic information for patients.

Sustained sleep fragmentation induces sleep homeostasis in mice.

Study Objectives: Sleep fragmentation (SF) is an integral feature of sleep apnea and other prevalent sleep disorders. Although the effect of repetitive arousals on cognitive performance is well documented, the effects of long-term SF on electroencephalography (EEG) and molecular markers of sleep homeostasis remain poorly investigated. To address this question, we developed a mouse model of chronic SF and characterized its effect on EEG spectral frequencies and the expression of genes previously linked to sleep homeostasis including clock genes, heat shock proteins, and plasticity-related genes.

Persistent HIV-related stigma in rural Uganda during a period of increasing HIV incidence despite treatment expansion.

Objective: Programme implementers have argued that the increasing availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) will reduce the stigma of HIV. We analyzed data from Uganda to assess how HIV-related stigma has changed during a period of ART expansion.

Design: Serial cross-sectional surveys.

Prognostic information of a previously diagnosed sister is an independent prognosticator for a newly diagnosed sister with breast cancer.

Background: Breast cancer survival has been shown to be associated among relatives. In this study, we used a population-based cohort of Swedish sisters, both diagnosed with breast cancer, to determine whether prognostic information of a previously diagnosed sibling is useful for the clinical management of a newly diagnosed sibling.

Patients And Methods: The population-based cohort included all sister pairs, 1617 sisters, diagnosed with breast cancer in Sweden, from 1 January 1992, through 31 December 2006, with complete follow-up.

Value of pharmacist medication interviews on optimizing the electronic medication reconciliation process.

Purpose: Few studies have explored the impact of using different methods for obtaining accurate medication histories on medication safety. This study was conducted to compare the accuracy and clinical impact of pharmacist medication histories obtained by electronic medical record review (EMRR) alone with those obtained by direct interviews combined with EMRR.

Method: This 18-week prospective study included patients who were admitted to the Inpatient Medicine Service at the study institution and who had a pharmacist-conducted medication reconciliation EMRR within 48 hours of hospital admission.

2q36.3 is associated with prognosis for oestrogen receptor-negative breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy.

Large population-based registry studies have shown that breast cancer prognosis is inherited. Here we analyse single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of genes implicated in human immunology and inflammation as candidates for prognostic markers of breast cancer survival involving 1,804 oestrogen receptor (ER)-negative patients treated with chemotherapy (279 events) from 14 European studies in a prior large-scale genotyping experiment, which is part of the Collaborative Oncological Gene-environment Study (COGS) initiative. We carry out replication using Asian COGS samples (n=522, 53 events) and the Prospective Study of Outcomes in Sporadic versus Hereditary breast cancer (POSH) study (n=315, 108 events).