Effect of EGCG-Methacrylate-Functionalized Resin Infiltrant on White Spot Lesions: An In Vitro Study.

This study evaluated the color change (ΔE) and penetration depth (PD) of white spot lesions (WSLs) infiltrated with the resin infiltrant (Icon) functionalized with methacrylate epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). To introduce polymerizable double bonds, EGCG was reacted with methacryloyl chloride (EM). Subsequently, the Icon resin infiltrant (I) was loaded with neat EGCG (IE) or EGCG-methacrylate (IEM) at 2 wt% each.

Deep learning analyses of splicing variants identify the link of PCP4 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe motor neuron disease, with most sporadic cases lacking clear genetic causes. Abnormal pre-mRNA splicing is a fundamental mechanism in neurodegenerative diseases. For example, TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) loss-of-function (LOF) causes widespread RNA mis-splicing events in ALS.

Reply to Cosio et al. Glycation of Nail Proteins as a Risk Factor for Onychomycosis. Comment on "Gupta et al. Diabetic Foot and Fungal Infections: Etiology and Management from a Dermatologic Perspective. 2024, , 577".

We find the comment on the article titled "Diabetic Foot and Fungal Infections: Etiology and Management from a Dermatologic Perspective" informative and wish to thank the authors for their added insight on this complex topic [...

Supervised and Self-Supervised Learning for Assembly Line Action Recognition.

The safety and efficiency of assembly lines are critical to manufacturing, but human supervisors cannot oversee all activities simultaneously. This study addresses this challenge by performing a comparative study to construct an initial real-time, semi-supervised temporal action recognition setup for monitoring worker actions on assembly lines. Various feature extractors and localization models were benchmarked using a new assembly dataset, with the I3D model achieving an average mAP@IoU=0.

Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis on Treating Hormone Receptor-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer After CDK4/6 Inhibitors.

Introduction: The optimal treatment of estrogen receptor-positive (ER +) metastatic breast cancer (MBC) after progression on cyclin-dependent 4/6 kinase inhibitors (CDK4/6i) is unknown.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) of phase-II/-III randomized trials of ER + MBC post CDK4/6i + ET progression. We calculated the hazard ratio (HR) for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) using generic inverse variance and odds ratios (ORs) using the Mantel-Haenszel method for adverse events (AEs) with Review-Manager version-5.

A Canadian Perspective on Systemic Therapy for Recurrent or Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

Although the majority of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) present with early-stage or locoregional disease that can be treated with definitive radiotherapy, approximately 20% of patients experience disease recurrence, and 15% present with metastatic disease that is not amenable to curative therapy. Management of patients with recurrent or metastatic (r/m) NPC who are not candidates for local salvage therapy is challenging in Canada, as there is uncertainty in extrapolating evidence that is largely generated from Southeast China to non-endemic regions such as Canada. Currently, treatment options in Canada are limited to chemotherapy regimens that can only achieve short-term response and prolongation of survival.

Trends in Real-World Clinical Outcomes of Patients with Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) Rearranged Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Receiving One or More ALK Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs): A Cohort Study in Ontario, Canada.

The treatment landscape for patients with advanced ALK-positive NSCLC has rapidly evolved following the approval of several ALK TKIs in Canada. However, public funding of ALK TKIs is mostly limited to the first line treatment setting. Using linked provincial health administrative databases, we examined real-world outcomes of patients with advanced ALK-positive NSCLC receiving ALK TKIs in Ontario between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2021.

Matched Unrelated Donor Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: Increased Usage and Improvements in Clinical Outcomes in Canada.

In allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), a minority of patients have access to a suitable human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched related donor (MRD). To fill this gap, matched unrelated donors (MUDs) are an increasingly selected donor source. Usage and outcomes after MUD HCT for Canada are not described.

A Real-World Comparison Between Adjuvant Docetaxel with Cyclophosphamide (TC) and Anthracycline-Taxane Chemotherapy in Early HER-2 Negative Breast Cancer.

Background: Anthracycline-taxane chemotherapy is the gold standard in high-risk breast cancer (BC), despite the potential risk of congestive heart failure (CHF). A suitable alternative for anthracycline-sparing chemotherapy is through the combination of docetaxel and cyclophosphamide (TC).

Methods: Through a retrospective study of stage I-III HER2-negative BC, using administrative databases, we analyzed a total of 10,634 women treated with adjuvant chemotherapy in Ontario, Canada, between 2009 and 2017.

Postdigital Bystanding: Youth Experiences of Sexual Violence Workshops in Schools in England, Ireland, and Canada.

In this paper, we report on creative- and arts-based sexual violence and bystander intervention workshops we developed and researched in England, Ireland, and Canada, through evaluation surveys, observations, and focus group interviews with nearly 1200 young people (aged 13-18). Whist the young people generally reported benefitting from the intervention, in the context of increasing use of digital technologies amongst youth, we explore the context-specific challenges they faced in learning about and being supported through bystander strategies across a wide range of diverse school spaces. We use the term postdigital bystanding to explicitly explore how teen's digital networks are often connected to the school-based 'real life' peer group, in ways that complicate clear distinctions between online and offline, arguing that these postdigital dynamics have not yet been adequately considered in bystanding interventions.

Virtually Connected: Do Shared Novel Activities in Virtual Reality Enhance Self-Expansion and Relationship Quality?

According to self-expansion theory, sharing novel experiences with a romantic partner can help prevent boredom and maintain relationship quality. However, in today's globalized modern world, partners spend less time together and are more likely to live apart than in previous generations, limiting opportunities for shared novel experiences. In two in-lab experiments, we tested whether shared novel activities in virtual reality (VR) could facilitate self-expansion, reduce boredom, and enhance relationship quality.

Effects of a Body-Based Mindfulness Program on Alexithymia, Dispositional Mindfulness, and Distress Symptoms: A Pilot Clinical Trial.

Mind-body practices have shown to be effective in reducing psychological distress and improving well-being and quality of life in clinical samples and healthy populations. We tested the effects of a body-based mindfulness intervention based on alexithymia, distress symptoms, and dispositional mindfulness among healthy adults. A total of seventy-three participants (mean age 40.

Does Caregiver Engagement Predict Outcomes of Adolescent Wilderness Therapy?

Existing research shows some links between wilderness therapy outcomes and familial functioning. However, wilderness therapy programs do not agree on what kind of caregiver involvement is required to improve adolescent program outcomes, nor has research examined different types of family engagement and their impact on adolescent treatment outcomes. Thus, the present study explored the research question: Does caregiver engagement in adolescent wilderness therapy foster improved outcomes? The study sample consisted of 4067 adolescent wilderness therapy clients from 12 different wilderness therapy programs.

Bidimensional Increment Entropy for Texture Analysis: Theoretical Validation and Application to Colon Cancer Images.

Entropy algorithms are widely applied in signal analysis to quantify the irregularity of data. In the realm of two-dimensional data, their two-dimensional forms play a crucial role in analyzing images. Previous works have demonstrated the effectiveness of one-dimensional increment entropy in detecting abrupt changes in signals.

Modulation of Stemness and Differentiation Regulators by Valproic Acid in Medulloblastoma Neurospheres.

Changes in epigenetic processes such as histone acetylation are proposed as key events influencing cancer cell function and the initiation and progression of pediatric brain tumors. Valproic acid (VPA) is an antiepileptic drug that acts partially by inhibiting histone deacetylases (HDACs) and could be repurposed as an epigenetic anticancer therapy. Here, we show that VPA reduced medulloblastoma (MB) cell viability and led to cell cycle arrest.

Synthetic CB1 Cannabinoids Promote Tunneling Nanotube Communication, Cellular Migration, and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Pancreatic PANC-1 and Colorectal SW-620 Cancer Cell Lines.

Metastasizing cancer cells surreptitiously can adapt to metabolic activity during their invasion. By initiating their communications for invasion, cancer cells can reprogram their cellular activities to initiate their proliferation and migration and uniquely counteract metabolic stress during their progression. During this reprogramming process, cancer cells' metabolism and other cellular activities are integrated and mutually regulated by tunneling nanotube communications to alter their specific metabolic functional drivers of tumor growth and progression.

Management of Anterior Choroidal Artery Aneurysms: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Anterior choroidal artery (AChoA) aneurysms pose a challenge for both endovascular and clipping procedures. The eloquent territory supplied by the parent vessel has limited collateralization and its compromise can lead to significant morbidity. This study aims to analyze the clinical outcomes and procedure-related complications of clipping and endovascular treatment of AChoA aneurysms to aid physician decision making.

Plant-Derived Anti-Cancer Therapeutics and Biopharmaceuticals.

In spite of significant advancements in diagnosis and treatment, cancer remains one of the major threats to human health due to its ability to cause disease with high morbidity and mortality. A multifactorial and multitargeted approach is required towards intervention of the multitude of signaling pathways associated with carcinogenesis inclusive of angiogenesis and metastasis. In this context, plants provide an immense source of phytotherapeutics that show great promise as anticancer drugs.

Care professionals' experiences and mediation of conditions for well-functioning interprofessional collaboration: a mixed-methods case study of rehabilitation pathways in Danish home care.

There is a growing interest in understanding the conditions that facilitate and hinder well-functioning interprofessional collaborations in healthcare. However, important knowledge gaps persist regarding the significance of context conditions and how different professional groups contribute to mediating conditions. To address these gaps, we conducted a mixed-method single-case study using surveys, interviews, and observations.

Metabolic profiling of meningioma reveals novel subgroup-specific biologic insights and outcome dependencies.

Background: Our group and others have recently identified four molecular groups of meningioma, with unique underlying biology and outcomes. The relevance of group-specific metabolite profiles (particularly among hypermetabolic tumours), has not been explored.

Methods: We performed untargeted metabolic profiling of meningiomas representing each molecular group and WHO grade.

Assessment of Right Ventricle Function in Patients with Mitral Repair: Case Series.

Objectives: We aim to assess right ventricular function in patients undergoing mitral valve repair using trans-esophageal echocardiography, focusing on the predictive value of right ventricular longitudinal strain compared to other echocardiographic measures.

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: Toronto General Hospital.

Atrial Fibrillation Related Titin Truncation Is Associated With Atrial Myopathy in Patient-Derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Disease Models.

Background: Protein-truncating mutations in the titin gene are associated with increased risk of atrial fibrillation. However, little is known about the underlying pathophysiology.

Methods: We identified a heterozygous titin truncating variant (TTNtv) in a patient with unexplained early onset atrial fibrillation and normal ventricular function.

The association between total social exposure and incident multimorbidity: A population-based cohort study.

Background: Multimorbidity, the co-occurrence of two or more chronic conditions, is associated with the social determinants of health. Using comprehensive linked population-representative data, we sought to understand the combined effect of multiple social determinants on multimorbidity incidence in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: Ontario respondents aged 20-55 in 2001-2011 cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey were linked to administrative health data ascertain multimorbidity status until 2022.

Unexplored avenues: a narrative review of cognition and mood in postmenopausal African women with female genital circumcision/mutilation/cutting.

Recent ageing research has projected the lifespan and proportion of postmenopausal women living in low- and middle-income countries to substantially increase over the years, especially on the African continent. An important subgroup within the African postmenopausal population is those with female genital circumcision/mutilation/cutting (FGC). Practised across 31 African nations, FGC holds cultural significance as it is deemed essential to marriage and successful womanhood.