75 results match your criteria: "Vanderbilt University School of Engineering[Affiliation]"

Digital mapping of resected cancer specimens: The visual pathology report.

J Pathol Inform

December 2024

Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Nashville, TN, United States of America.

Background: The current standard-of-care pathology report relies only on lengthy written text descriptions without a visual representation of the resected cancer specimen. This study demonstrates the feasibility of incorporating virtual, three-dimensional (3D) visual pathology reports to improve communication of final pathology reporting.

Materials And Methods: Surgical specimens are 3D scanned and virtually mapped alongside the pathology team to replicate grossing.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Bone health is maintained by the balance between bone formation and resorption, with osteoblasts playing a crucial role in forming new bone, a process requiring ATP and potentially impacted by systemic metabolic changes, especially in conditions like type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
  • - Research shows that obese mice on a high-fat diet exhibit reduced bone quality and formation rates, correlating with increased lipid droplet accumulation in osteoblasts, which suggests that impaired lipid metabolism affects bone health.
  • - A new experiment with a murine model demonstrated that deleting a specific lipid storage protein (Plin2) in osteoblasts can improve lipid breakdown and enhance bone formation, indicating that boosting fatty acid oxidation may counteract bone dysfunction caused by
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Objective: Obesity is a major health concern, largely because it contributes to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cardiovascular disease, and various malignancies. Increase in circulating amino acids and lipids, in part due to adipose dysfunction, have been shown to drive obesity-mediated diseases. Similarly, elevated purines and uric acid, a degradation product of purine metabolism, are found in the bloodstream and in adipose tissue.

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How auditory processing influences the autistic profile: A review.

Autism Res

December 2024

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

We need to combine sensory data from various sources to make sense of the world around us. This sensory data helps us understand our surroundings, influencing our experiences and interactions within our everyday environments. Recent interest in sensory-focused approaches to supporting autistic people has fixed on auditory processing-the sense of hearing and the act of listening-and its crucial role in language, communications, and social domains, as well as non-social autism-specific attributes, to understand better how sensory processing might differ in autistic people.

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Trends and Future Directions in Margin Analysis for Head and Neck Cancers.

Surg Oncol Clin N Am

October 2024

Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1211 Medical Center Drive, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, 1211 Medical Center Drive, Nashville, TN 37232, USA.

Margin status in head and neck cancer has important prognostic implications. Currently, resection is based on manual palpation and gross visualization followed by intraoperative specimen or tumor bed-based margin analysis using frozen sections. While generally effective, this protocol has several limitations including margin sampling and close and positive margin re-localization.

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Purpose: Multidisciplinary tumor boards (TB) are the standard for discussing complex head and neck cancer cases. During TB, imaging and microscopic pathology is reviewed, but there is typically no visualization of the resected cancer.

Methods: A pilot study was conducted to investigate the utility of visual pathology reports at weekly TB for 10 consecutive weeks.

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mTG-Gelatin phantoms as standardized testbeds for skin biomechanical measurements with Myoton.

J Mech Behav Biomed Mater

October 2024

Medicine Service and Research Service, Department of Veterans Affairs, Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Dermatology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, Nashville, TN, USA. Electronic address:

Quantitative assessment of skin mechanical properties can play a pivotal role in diagnosing and tracking various dermatological conditions. Myoton is a promising tool that rapidly and noninvasively measures five skin biomechanical parameters. Accurate interpretation of these parameters requires systematic in vitro testing with easy-to-fabricate, cost-effective skin-mimicking phantoms with controllable properties.

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Although the pathogenesis of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is largely unknown in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), inflammasomes may contribute to CNV development and progression. To understand the role NLRP3 inflammasomes in CNV, we used Ccr2RFPCx3cr1GFP dual-reporter mice and immunostaining techniques to confirm localization of NLRP3 inflammasomes in the laser-induced CNV (LCNV) lesions. Confocal microscopy was used to image and quantify LCNV volumes.

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Endoscopic tumor ablation of upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) allows for tumor control with the benefit of renal preservation but is impacted by intraoperative visibility. We sought to develop a computer vision model for real-time, automated segmentation of UTUC tumors to augment visualization during treatment. We collected 20 videos of endoscopic treatment of UTUC from two institutions.

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After oncologic resection of malignant tumors, specimens are sent to pathology for processing to determine the surgical margin status. These results are communicated in the form of a written pathology report. The current standard-of-care pathology report provides a written description of the specimen and the sites of margin sampling without any visual representation of the resected tissue.

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Importance: Agents targeting programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) have demonstrated efficacy in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) when combined with chemotherapy and are now the standard of care in patients with PD-L1-positive metastatic disease. In contrast to microtubule-targeting agents, the effect of combining platinum compounds with programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/PD-L1 immunotherapy has not been extensively determined.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of atezolizumab with carboplatin in patients with metastatic TNBC.

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Extracellular vesicle (EV)-carried miRNAs can influence gene expression and functional phenotypes in recipient cells. Argonaute 2 (Ago2) is a key miRNA-binding protein that has been identified in EVs and could influence RNA silencing. However, Ago2 is in a non-vesicular form in serum and can be an EV contaminant.

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To maximize solute transport, epithelial cells build an apical "brush border," where thousands of microvilli are linked to their neighbors by protocadherin-containing intermicrovillar adhesion complexes (IMACs). Previous studies established that the IMAC is needed to build a mature brush border, but how this complex contributes to the accumulation of new microvilli during differentiation remains unclear. We found that early in differentiation, mouse, human, and porcine epithelial cells exhibit a marginal accumulation of microvilli, which span junctions and interact with protrusions on neighboring cells using IMAC protocadherins.

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An early-life microbiota metabolite protects against obesity by regulating intestinal lipid metabolism.

Cell Host Microbe

October 2023

Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Vanderbilt Institute of Infection, Immunology, and Inflammation, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Vanderbilt Digestive Disease Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Vanderbilt Microbiome Innovation Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA. Electronic address:

The mechanisms by which the early-life microbiota protects against environmental factors that promote childhood obesity remain largely unknown. Using a mouse model in which young mice are simultaneously exposed to antibiotics and a high-fat (HF) diet, we show that Lactobacillus species, predominant members of the small intestine (SI) microbiota, regulate intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) to limit diet-induced obesity during early life. A Lactobacillus-derived metabolite, phenyllactic acid (PLA), protects against metabolic dysfunction caused by early-life exposure to antibiotics and a HF diet by increasing the abundance of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPAR-γ) in SI IECs.

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Background And Aims: NAFLD strongly associates with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors; however, the association between NAFLD and incident CVD, CVD-related mortality, incident cancer, and all-cause mortality is unclear.

Approach And Results: We included 10,040 participants from the Framingham Heart Study, the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study, and the Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis to assess the longitudinal association between liver fat (defined on CT) and incident CVD, CVD-related mortality, incident cancer, and all-cause mortality. We performed multivariable-adjusted Cox regression models including age, sex, diabetes, systolic blood pressure, alcohol use, smoking, HDL, triglycerides, and body mass index at baseline or time-varying covariates.

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Mesenchymal condensation is a prevalent morphogenetic transition that is essential in chondrogenesis. However, the current understanding of condensation mechanisms is limited. In vivo, progenitor cells directionally migrate from the surrounding loose mesenchyme towards regions of increasing matrix adherence (the condensation centers), which is accompanied by the upregulation of fibronectin.

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Extracellular purine nucleotides and nucleosides released from activated or injured cells influence multiple aspects of cardiac physiology and pathophysiology. Ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (ENTPD1; CD39) hydrolyzes released nucleotides and thereby regulates the magnitude and duration of purinergic signaling. However, the impact of CD39 activity on post-myocardial infarction (MI) remodeling is incompletely understood.

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Aim: Deregulated signaling pathways are a hallmark feature of oncogenesis and driver of tumor progression. Dual specificity protein phosphatase 4 (DUSP4) is a critical negative regulator of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and is often deleted or epigenetically silenced in tumors. DUSP4 alterations lead to hyperactivation of MAPK signaling in many cancers, including breast cancer, which often harbor mutations in cell cycle checkpoint genes, particularly in TP53.

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Article Synopsis
  • Lymphedema and lipedema are both complex diseases that cause leg swelling, but they have different underlying causes and mechanisms affecting fluid and fat in the body.
  • They share symptoms like edema and adipose expansion but differ in their progression, molecular regulators, and genetic factors.
  • The review aims to highlight the similarities and differences in clinical features, molecular pathways, and genetic markers to guide future research on these conditions.
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Use of robots to encourage social engagement between older adults.

Geriatr Nurs

March 2022

Research Professor, College of Nursing, Ohio State University, Columbus OH. Electronic address:

We designed a robotic architecture system within a commercially available socially assistive robot to engage pairs of older adults in multimodal activities over 3 weeks for 6 sessions. The study took place in two assisted living facilities. Seven pairs (14 individuals) completed the experiment.

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A novel method for visualizing and tracking endogenous mRNA in a specific cell population in pathological neovascularization.

Sci Rep

January 2021

Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, AA1324 Medical Center North, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA.

Diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity and retinal vein occlusion are potentially blinding conditions largely due to their respective neovascular components. The development of real-time in vivo molecular imaging methods, to assess levels of retinal neovascularization (NV), would greatly benefit patients afflicted with these conditions. mRNA hybridization techniques offer a potential method to image retinal NV.

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Radiation therapy is the most effective cytotoxic therapy for localized tumors. However, normal tissue toxicity limits the radiation dose and the curative potential of radiation therapy when treating larger target volumes. In particular, the highly radiosensitive intestine limits the use of radiation for patients with intra-abdominal tumors.

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Toxicant-Induced Metabolic Alterations in Lipid and Amino Acid Pathways Are Predictive of Acute Liver Toxicity in Rats.

Int J Mol Sci

November 2020

Department of Defense Biotechnology High Performance Computing Software Applications Institute, Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, Fort Detrick, MD 21702, USA.

Liver disease and disorders associated with aberrant hepatocyte metabolism can be initiated via drug and environmental toxicant exposures. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that gene and metabolic profiling can reveal commonalities in liver response to different toxicants and provide the capability to identify early signatures of acute liver toxicity. We used Sprague Dawley rats and three classical hepatotoxicants: acetaminophen (2 g/kg), bromobenzene (0.

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Although new drug discoveries are revolutionizing cancer treatments, repurposing existing drugs would accelerate the timeline and lower the cost for bringing treatments to cancer patients. Our goal was to repurpose CPI211, a potent and selective antagonist of the thromboxane A-prostanoid receptor (TPr), a G-protein-coupled receptor that regulates coagulation, blood pressure, and cardiovascular homeostasis. To identify potential new clinical indications for CPI211, we performed a phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) of the gene encoding TPr, , using robust deidentified health records and matched genomic data from more than 29,000 patients.

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Mechanism-based identification of plasma metabolites associated with liver toxicity.

Toxicology

August 2020

Department of Defense Biotechnology High Performance Computing Software Applications Institute, Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, Fort Detrick, MD 21702, USA. Electronic address:

Early diagnosis of liver injuries caused by drugs or occupational exposures is necessary to enable effective treatments and prevent liver failure. Whereas histopathology remains the gold standard for assessing hepatotoxicity in animals, plasma aminotransferase levels are the primary measures for monitoring liver dysfunction in humans. In this study, using Sprague Dawley rats, we investigated whether integrated analyses of transcriptomic and metabolomic data with genome-scale metabolic models (GSMs) could identify early indicators of injury and provide new insights into the mechanisms of hepatotoxicity.

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