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Overview: Urethral stricture in male patients is a common problem, often necessitating surgical intervention. Sushruta has described Mootra marg sankoch (~urethral stricture) as a type of Mootraghat (~urinary retention). Pathologically, it involves the progressive fibrous narrowing of the urethral lumen. Generally, Balanitis Xerotica Obliterans begins at the prepuce and glans and gradually affects the entire urethra., Case Report: We treated a 32-year-old male patient who had undergone repeated surgical interventions over the past nine years for urethral stricture. ., Intervention: The patient was managed with Ayurvedic Uttar Basti therapy (procedure in which medicated oil is administered through urethral route) over approximately nine months., Result: During this period, significant improvements were observed in Uroflowmetry (UFM) parameters. Retrograde urethrography returned to normal after seven sessions of Ayurvedic Uttar Basti therapy. Specifically, there was approximately a 25% improvement in Maximum Flow rate, a 143% improvement in Average Flow Rate, and a 35.66% reduction in Voiding time. Additionally, the pin-hole meatus normalized, and the patient avoided further surgical procedures., Conclusion: The use of Uttar Basti, a traditional Ayurvedic treatment, in multiple sessions, provided significant improvement in flow rate and voiding time in this case, highlighting an effective alternative therapeutic approach for a condition typically managed with surgery.

Astroblastoma, a unique entity of glial tumor, predominantly occur in young women with distinctive MN1 rearrangement, Given its limited documentation in existing literature, we report eight cases of astroblastoma, detailing their clinical, radiological, and histopathological characteristics along with molecular analysis. We conducted a retrospective analysis of our neuropathology archive database spanning the past 8 years. We included all cases that underwent Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), surgical resection, histopathological examination, molecular testing, and follow-up. Histopathological examination involving immunohistochemistry and Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) was carried out for all cases. All tumors were found to be located in the supratentorial region (cerebral hemisphere). The median age of the group was 35.1 years, with a female-to-male ratio of 1.6:1. The most common clinical presentation was headache. Morphologically, all tumors exhibited astroblastic features with pseudorosettes and perivascular hyalinization. Immunohistochemistry consistently revealed positivity for EMA and variable immunoreactivity for GFAP, OLIG2, and D2-40. Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) analysis conducted for all cases showed MN1 rearrangement in 7 cases. The mean follow-up period was 45 months (ranging from 12 to 105 months). Radiotherapy was administered for high-grade and recurrent astroblastomas. All patients are currently alive and in good health. Astroblastomas are uncommon central nervous system (CNS) tumors with characteristics morphology and molecular signatures. They typically carry a favorable prognosis. High level suspicion is required for their diagnosis and molecular analysis is must to distinguish them from other morphological mimics., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest There are no declaration of interest from the authors, (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Background: Advance care planning/serious illness conversations can help clinicians understand patients' values and preferences. There are limited data on how to increase these conversations, and their effect on care patterns. We hypothesized that using a machine learning survival model to select patients for serious illness conversations, along with trained care coaches to conduct the conversations, would increase uptake in cancer patients at high risk of short-term mortality., Methods: We conducted a cluster-randomized stepped wedge study on the physician level. Oncologists entered the intervention condition in a random order over six months. Adult patients with metastatic cancer were included. Patients with <2 year computer-predicted survival and no prognosis documentation were classified as high-priority for serious illness conversations. In the intervention condition, providers received automated weekly emails highlighting high-priority patients and were asked to document prognosis for them. Care coaches reached out to these patients to conduct the remainder of the conversation. The primary endpoint was proportion of visits with prognosis documentation within 14 days., Results: 6,372 visits in 1,825 patients were included in the primary analysis. The proportion of visits with prognosis documentation within 14 days was higher in the intervention condition than control condition: 2.9% vs 1.1% (adjusted odds ratio 4.3, p < .0001). The proportion of visits with advance care planning documentation was also higher in the intervention condition: 7.7% vs 1.8% (adjusted odds ratio 14.2, p < .0001). In high-priority visits, advance care planning documentation rate in intervention/control visits was 24.2% vs 4.0%., Conclusion: The intervention increased documented conversations, with contributions by both providers and care coaches., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: The recent pandemic caused by the newly identified virus, SARS-Cov-2 is associated with thromboembolic events. Patients infected with COVID-19 have been found to have thrombocytopenia. A decrease in platelet count may be caused by increased destruction and consumption of platelets or by decreased production of platelets in the bone marrow. Immature platelet fraction (IPF) is a new platelet parameter that is an indicator for peripheral destruction and consumption of platelets., Objectives: To assess the immature platelet fraction (IPF) in patients infected with COVID-19., Materials and Methods: The present study is a retrospective study where secondary data obtained from previous laboratory records of COVID-positive patients admitted at a tertiary care hospital in Delhi from 4 January to 4 February 2022 was analyzed. Sixty-eight COVID-positive patients were included. Platelet parameters included from the automated hematology analyzer Mindray were platelet count, mean platelet volume (MPV), immature platelet fraction (IPF), and platelet large cell ratio (P-LCR). Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 25. A P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant., Results: In the present study mild thrombocytopenia was noted in 40% of the patients infected with COVID-19 admitted to the hospital. The median platelet count in these patients was found to be 91,000/mm3 (64,000-1,31,000). Low platelet count was associated with a significantly higher IPF, MPV, PDW, P-LCR, and a significantly lower PCT as compared to patients infected with COVID-19 with normal platelet count. There was a significant increase in IPF with a decrease in platelet count (P value < 0.05). A significant increase in IPF was noted with an increase in MPV and P-LCR (P value < 0.05)., Interpretation and Conclusion: The present study suggests that thrombocytopenia in patients infected with COVID-19 may probably be due to peripheral destruction and consumption of platelets., (Copyright © 2024 Copyright: © 2024 Indian Journal of Pathology and Microbiology.)

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease varies with sex, and the impact of intrinsic sex-based differences on vasculature is not well understood. Animal models can provide important insight into some aspects of human biology, however not all discoveries in animal systems translate well to humans. To explore the impact of chromosomal sex on proteomic phenotypes, we used iPSC-derived vascular smooth muscle cells from healthy donors of both sexes to identify sex-based proteomic differences and their possible effects on cardiovascular pathophysiology. Our analysis confirmed that differentiated cells have a proteomic profile more similar to healthy primary aortic smooth muscle than iPSCs. We also identified sex-based differences in iPSC- derived vascular smooth muscle in pathways related to ATP binding, glycogen metabolic process, and cadherin binding as well as multiple proteins relevant to cardiovascular pathophysiology and disease. Additionally, we explored the role of autosomal and sex chromosomes in protein regulation, identifying that proteins on autosomal chromosomes also show sex-based regulation that may affect the protein expression of proteins from autosomal chromosomes. This work supports the biological relevance of iPSC-derived vascular smooth muscle cells as a model for disease, and further exploration of the pathways identified here can lead to the discovery of sex-specific pharmacological targets for cardiovascular disease., Significance: In this work, we have differentiated 4 male and 4 female iPSC lines into vascular smooth muscle cells, giving us the ability to identify statistically-significant sex-specific proteomic markers that are relevant to cardiovascular disease risk (such as PCK2, MTOR, IGFBP2, PTGR2, and SULTE1).

Acrylamide (AA) is a carcinogenic compound that affects people due to its frequent use in laboratories and industry as well as the high-temperature cooking of foods with high hydrocarbon content. AA is known to cause severe reproductive abnormalities. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the protective effect of rutin (RU), a phytoactive compound, against AA-induced reproductive toxicity in female rats. Initially, rats were exposed to AA (40 mg/kg for 10 days). Therapy of RU was given after AA intoxication consecutively for 3 days. After 24 h of the last treatment, all the animals were sacrificed. The study evaluated reproductive hormones, oxidative stress markers, membrane-bound enzymes, DNA damage, histological findings, and an in silico approach to determine the protective efficacy of RU. The results indicated that RU significantly protected against inflammation, oxidative stress, and DNA damage induced by AA, likely due to its antioxidant properties., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objective: To evaluate the impact of age on the efficacy and safety of niraparib first-line maintenance therapy in patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer with a complete/partial response to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy., Methods: Post hoc analysis of the phase 3 PRIMA/ENGOT-OV26/GOG-3012 study (NCT02655016). Patients in the intent-to-treat population were categorized according to age at baseline (<65 years vs ≥65 years), and progression-free survival (PFS), safety, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) were evaluated for each age subgroup (clinical cutoff date, May 17, 2019). Safety findings were also evaluated according to a fixed starting dose (FSD) or an individualized starting dose (ISD)., Results: Of 733 randomized patients, 289 (39.4%) were ≥65 years (190 niraparib, 99 placebo) at baseline. Median PFS (niraparib vs placebo) and hazard ratios (95% CI) were similar in patients aged <65 years (13.9 vs 8.2 months; HR, 0.61 [0.47-0.81]) and ≥65 years (13.7 vs 8.1 months; HR, 0.53 [0.39-0.74]). The incidences of any-grade and grade ≥3 treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were similar across age subgroups; in the niraparib arm, TEAEs leading to dose discontinuation occurred in 7.8% of patients <65 years and 18.4% of patients ≥65 years. ISD use lowered the incidence of grade ≥3 thrombocytopenia events in niraparib-treated patients compared with the FSD (<65 years: 42.8% vs 18.0%; ≥65 years 57.0% vs 26.1%). HRQOL was comparable across age subgroups., Conclusion: Niraparib efficacy, safety, and HRQOL were generally comparable across age subgroups, although patients ≥65 years had a higher rate of discontinuations due to TEAEs. ISD use reduced grade ≥3 thrombocytopenia events regardless of age., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr. Valabrega reports consulting fees from GSK; honoraria from AstraZeneca, Eisai, GSK, and MSD; travel support from AstraZeneca and PharmaMar; and participation in advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Eisai, GSK, and MSD. Dr. Pothuri reports institutional grant support from AstraZeneca, Celsion, Clovis Oncology, Eisai, Genentech/Roche, GSK, I-Mab, Immunogen, Incyte, Karyopharm, Merck, Mersana, Onconova, SeaGen, Sutro, and Toray; consulting fees from AstraZeneca, GOG Foundation, GSK, Merck, and Seagen; support for attending meetings from GOG Partners; and advisory board fees from Arquer Diagnostics, Atossa, Deciphera, Eisai, Elevar Therapeutics, GOG Foundation, I-Mab, Immunogen, Lily, Merck, Mersana, Natera, Onconova, Regeneron, Sutro Biopharma, Tesaro/GSK, Toray, and VBL Therapeutics. Dr. Oaknin reports institutional grants from AbbVie Deutschland, Advaxis, Aeterna Zentaris, Amgen, Aprea Therapeutics AB, BMS, Clovis Oncology, Eisai, F. Hoffmann–La Roche, Immunogen, MSD de España SA, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, PharmaMar SA, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Tesaro; consulting fees from Agenus, AstraZeneca, Clovis Oncology, Corcept Therapeutics, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Eisai, Exelixis, EMD Serono, F. Hoffmann–La Roche, Genmab, GSK, ImmunoGen, Iteos, MSD de España SA, Mersana Therapeutics, Novocure, OncXerna Therapeutics, PharmaMar, Regeneron, Shattuck Labs, Seagen, and Sutro Biopharma; honoraria from Asociación Colombiada de Ginecológos Oncólogos, AstraZeneca, ESO, GSK, Medscape, NSGO, Peerview, and Peervoice; individual travel support from AstraZeneca, PharmaMar, and Roche; and advisory board participation for Agenus, AstraZeneca, Clovis Oncology, Corcept Therapeutics, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Eisai, Exelixis, EMD Serono, F. Hoffmann–La Roche, Genmab, GSK, ImmunoGen, Iteos, MSD de España SA, Mersana Therapeutics, Novocure, OncXerna Therapeutics, PharmaMar, Regeneron, Seagen, Shattuck Labs, and Sutro Biopharma. Dr. Graybill reports consulting and speaker fees from GSK. Dr. Sánchez reports consulting fees from AstraZeneca, GSK, and MSD; honoraria from AstraZeneca, GSK, and MSD; and travel support from AstraZeneca, GSK, and MSD. Dr. McCormick reports personal fees for advisory boards for Clovis, GSK, ImmunoGen, and Merck. Dr. Baurain reports consulting fees from AstraZeneca, BMS, GSK, Immunocore, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Pierre-Fabre, Regeneron, Sanofi, and Sun Pharma. Dr. Tinker reports honoraria from AstraZeneca, Eisai, GSK, and Merck and travel support from GSK. Dr. Denys reports an institutional research grant from Gilead; consulting fees from Gilead and GSK; honoraria from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Gilead, GSK, Leo Pharma, MSD, and Roche; travel support from AstraZeneca, Gilead, GSK, MSD, Pfizer, PharmaMar, Roche, and Teva; and participation on advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Gilead, GSK, Menarini, MSD, and Pfizer. Dr. O'Cearbhaill reports institutional research support from NIH/NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748) and support grants from AstraZeneca/Merck, Atara Biotherapeutics/Bayer, Genentech, Genmab, GSK, Gynecologic Oncology Group Foundation, Juno Therapeutics, Kite/Gilead, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Regeneron, Sellas Life Sciences, StemcentRx, Syndax, TapImmune, and TCR2 Therapeutics; participating in advisory boards with Bayer, Carina Biotech, Fresenius Kabi, Immunogen, Regeneron, R-Pharm, Seattle Genetics, and Tesaro/GSK; personal fees from GOG Foundation; travel fees from Hitech Health; and service as a noncompensated steering committee member for the DUO-O (olaparib) and PRIMA and Moonstone (niraparib) studies. Dr. Hietanen reports consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Eisai, GSK, and MSD and honoraria from AstraZeneca and GSK. Dr. Moore reports institutional grants from Angle Plc and Fujirebio Diagnostics and personal fees from Fujirebio Diagnostics. Dr. Knudsen has nothing to disclose. Dr. de La Motte Rouge reports receiving consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Clovis Oncology, Eisai, Gilead, GSK, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, and Sanofi; receiving honoraria from AstraZeneca, GSK, MSD, NetCancer, and Pfizer; and travel support from Gilead, MSD, and Pfizer. Dr. Heitz reports honoraria from AstraZeneca, GSK, Roche, and Tesaro and consulting fees from AstraZeneca, GSK, Roche, and Tesaro. Dr. Levy has nothing to disclose. Dr. Monk reports consulting fees from Agenus, Akeso Biopharma, Amgen, Aravive, Bayer, Elevar, EMD Merck, Genmab/Seagen, GOG Foundation, Gradalis, ImmunoGen, Iovance, Karyopharm, MacroGenics, Mersana, Myriad, Novartis, Novocure, Pfizer, Puma, Regeneron, Sorrento, US Oncology Research, and VBL and speakers' bureau honoraria from AstraZeneca, Clovis, Eisai, Merck, Roche/Genentech, and Tesaro/GSK. Dr. González-Martín reports for different educational or advisory-related activities from Alkermes, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Clovis, Genmab, GSK, Hedera Dx, Immunogen, Illumina, Mersana, MSD, Novartis, Novocure, Oncoinvent, PharmaMar, Roche, Seagen, Sotio, Sutro, Takeda, and Tubulis. Ms. York is a current employee of GSK. Dr. Gupta is a former employee of GSK and Mersana Therapeutics and is currently an employee of Cullinan Oncology., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Niraparib is a poly(adenosine diphosphate [ADP]-ribose) polymerase inhibitor approved for the maintenance treatment of advanced ovarian cancer (OC). Niraparib was originally approved in recurrent OC at a fixed starting dose (FSD) of 300 mg once daily (QD). This analysis characterized the population pharmacokinetics (PK) of niraparib and evaluated the relationships between exposure, efficacy, and safety to support clinical use of an individualized dosing strategy, in which the starting dose of niraparib was adjusted based on patient characteristics to improve the benefit-risk profile., Methods: A population PK model was developed by pooling data from four niraparib clinical trials (PN001 [n = 104], QUADRA [n = 455], NOVA [n = 403], and PRIMA [n = 480]) in patients with solid tumors, including OC. Exposure-response analyses were conducted to explore the relationships of niraparib exposure with progression-free survival (PFS) and adverse events in the PRIMA study. A multivariate logistic regression model was also developed to estimate the probability of grade ≥3 thrombocytopenia, using data from patients enrolled in PRIMA and NOVA. The impact of an individualized starting dose (ISD) regimen (200 mg QD in patients with body weight [BW] <77 kg or platelet count [PLT] <150,000/µL, or 300 mg QD in patients with BW ≥77 kg and PLT ≥150,000/µL) on systemic exposure, efficacy, and safety was assessed., Findings: Niraparib disposition was best described by a 3-compartment model with linear elimination. Key covariates included baseline creatinine clearance, BW, albumin, and age, all of which had minor effects on niraparib exposure. Comparable model-predicted exposure up to the time of disease progression/death or censoring in the 300-mg FSD and 200-/300-mg ISD groups was consistent with the lower rate of dose reduction in the ISD groups. No consistent niraparib exposure-response relationship was observed for efficacy in all PRIMA patients (first-line OC), and no statistically significant difference was seen in PFS curves for patients receiving a niraparib dose of 200 mg versus 300 mg. In the multivariate regression model, performed using combined data from PRIMA and NOVA, higher niraparib exposure (area under the concentration-time curve at steady-state [AUC ss ]), lower BW, and lower PLT were associated with an increased risk of grade ≥3 thrombocytopenia., Implications: Population PK and exposure-response analyses support use of an ISD to improve the safety profile of niraparib, including reducing the rate of grade ≥3 thrombocytopenia, without compromising efficacy., Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01847274 (NOVA), NCT00749502 (PN001), NCT02655016 (PRIMA), NCT02354586 (QUADRA), www., Clinicaltrials: gov., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Bradley J. Monk is an Associate Editor for Annals of Oncology and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Bradley J. Monk reports consulting fees from Agenus, Akeso Biopharma, Amgen, Aravive, Bayer, Elevar, EMD Merck, Genmab/Seagen, GOG Foundation, Gradalis, ImmunoGen, Iovance, Karyopharm, MacroGenics, Mersana, Myriad, Novartis, Novocure, Pfizer, Puma, Regeneron, Sorrento, US Oncology Research, and VBL and speakers’ bureau honoraria from AstraZeneca, Clovis, Eisai, Merck, Roche/Genentech, and Tesaro/GSK. Ignacio Romero reports consulting or advisory role at AstraZeneca, Clovis, GSK, MSD, and Roche; speakers bureau at AstraZeneca, GSK, PharmaMar, and Roche; research funding from AstraZeneca and Roche; and travel expenses from AstraZeneca, Clovis, GSK, MSD, PharmaMar, and Roche. Whitney Graybill reports personal fees from GSK. David M. O'Malley reports personal fees from Agenus, Eisai, GSK, and Immunogen; consultant/advisory board for AbbVie, Ambry, Amgen, Array Biopharma, Clovis, EMD Serono, Ergomed, Janssen/J&J, Myriad Genetics, Novocure, Regeneron, Tarveda, and VentiRx; steering committee for Genentech/Roche and Merck; institutional funding from Ajinomoto, BMS, Cerulean Pharma, GOG Foundation, INC Research, InVentiv Health Clinical, Iovance Biotherapeutics, Ludwig Cancer Research, New Mexico Cancer Care Alliance, PRA International, Serono, Stemcentrx, Tracon Pharmaceuticals, and Yale University. Hannelore Denys reports consulting or advisory role at Amgen, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Gilead, GSK, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, PharmaMar, and Seagen; institutional research funding from Gilead; and travel expenses from AstraZeneca, Gilead, GSK, Pfizer, PharmaMar, Roche, and Teva. Sharad Ghamande reports consulting fees from Seattle Genetics; speakers bureau fees from GSK; and institutional grants from AbbVie, Advaxis, BMS, Clovis, Genentech, GSK, Merck, Roche, Seattle Genetics, Takeda, and Tesaro. Carmela Pisano reports speakers’ bureau fee and advisory role from AstraZeneca, GSK, and MSD. Michel Fabbro reports honoraria from GSK. Elena Iona Braicu reports honoraria from AstraZeneca, GSK, and Merck; consulting or advisory roles at AstraZeneca and GSK; institutional research funding from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Clovis, Eisai, GSK, Merck, and Resolve; travel support from AstraZeneca; and relationship with medical director of the North Eastern German Society of Gynecological Oncology (NOGGO). Paula M. Calvert reports an educational grant for meeting attendance, flights, and accommodations from MSD. Emily Prendergast reports consulting or advisory role at AstraZeneca and Merck. Adekemi Taylor reports being an employee of Certara (a biosimulation company) and, as a Certara employee, provided consulting services to GSK and Tesaro for this analysis and also provides consulting services to various pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Zhi-Yi Zhang was an employee of GSK when these analyses were undertaken and held shares/stock options in GSK. Stefan Zajic is an employee of GSK and holds shares/stock in GSK. Roxanne C. Jewell is an employee of GSK and holds shares/stock in GSK. Divya Gupta was an employee of GSK when these analyses were undertaken and held shares/stock options in GSK. Antonio González-Martín reports consulting fees from Alkermes, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Clovis, Daichii ,Genmab, GSK, Hedera DX, Illumina, Immunogen, Incyte, Kartos, Karyopharm, Mersana, MSD, Novartis, Novocure, Oncoinvent, Pharma&, PharmaMar, Roche, Seagen SOTIO, Sutro, Takeda, and Tubulis; grants or contracts from Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer, GSK, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and Roche; payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, or speakers bureau from AstraZeneca, Clovis, GSK, Immunogen, Mersana, MSD, Novocure, PharmaMar, Roche, Takeda, Seagen, and Zai Lab; and travel support from AstraZeneca, Clovis, GSK, Immunogen, Mersana, MSD, Novocure, PharmaMar, Roche, and Takeda. Peter G. Rose, Amnon Amit, Leila Kheibarshekan, Cristina Churruca, Anja Ør Knudsen, Oi Wah Stephanie Yap, and Jean-François Baurain have nothing to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Gender and racial disparities exist after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. Compared with older devices, the HeartMate 3 (HM3) (Abbott Cardiovascular) has demonstrated improved survival. Whether HM3 differentially improves outcomes by gender or race and ethnic groups is unknown., Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine differences by gender and race in the use of HM3 among patients listed for heart transplantation (HT) and associated waitlist and post-transplant outcomes., Methods: The authors examined all patients (20% women, 33% Black) who received LVADs as bridge to transplantation (BTT) between January 2018 and June 2020, in the OPTN (Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network) database. Trends in use of HM3 were evaluated by gender and race. Competing events of death/delisting and transplantation were evaluated using subdistribution hazard models. Post-transplant outcomes were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression adjusted for demographic, clinical, and donor characteristics., Results: Of 11,524 patients listed for HT during the study period, 955 (8.3%) had HM3 implanted as BTT. Use of HM3 increased for all patients, with no difference in use by gender (P = 0.4) or by race (P = 0.2). Competing risk analysis did not demonstrate differences in transplantation or death/delisting in men compared with women (HT: adjusted HR [aHR]: 0.92 [95% CI: 0.70-1.21]; death/delisting: aHR: 0.91 [95% CI: 0.59-1.42]), although Black patients were transplanted fewer times than White patients (HT: aHR: 0.72 [95% CI: 0.57-0.91], death/delisting: aHR: 1.36 [95% CI: 0.98-1.89]). One-year post-transplant survival was comparable by gender (aHR: 0.52 [95% CI: 0.21-1.70]) and race (aHR: 0.76 [95% CI: 0.34-1.70]), with no differences in rates of stroke, acute rejection, or graft failure., Conclusions: Use of HM3 among patients listed for HT has increased over time and by gender and race. Black patients with HM3 were less likely to be transplanted compared with White patients, but there were no differences in post-transplant outcomes between these groups or between men and women., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosure Dr Morris is supported by the American Heart Association, AHRQ (HS026081), the Woodruff Foundation, and the Association of Black Cardiologists; and has received consulting fees from Abbott, Acorai, BI Lilly, Cytokinetics, Edwards Lifesciences, Ionis, and Merck. Dr Patel is supported by the Stimulating Access to Research in Residency of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R38AI140299. Dr Wang is supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award number 5T32HL007745. Dr Okoh is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32HL130025. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Agriculture and changing environmental conditions are closely related, as weather changes could adversely affect living organisms or regions of crop cultivation. Changing environmental conditions trigger different abiotic stresses, which ultimately cause the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plants. Common ROS production sites are the chloroplast, endoplasmic reticulum, plasma membrane, mitochondria, peroxisomes, etc. The imbalance in ROS production and ROS detoxification in plant cells leads to oxidative damage to biomolecules such as lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins. At low concentrations, ROS initiates signaling events related to development and adaptations to abiotic stress in plants by inducing signal transduction pathways. In plants, a stress signal is perceived by various receptors that induce a signal transduction pathway that activates numerous signaling networks, which disrupt gene expression, impair the diversity of kinase/phosphatase signaling cascades that manage the stress response in the plant, and result in changes in physiological responses under various stresses. ROS production also regulates ABA-dependent and ABA-independent pathways to mitigate drought stress. This review focuses on the common subcellular location of manufacturing, complex signaling mechanisms, and networks of ROS, with an emphasis on cellular effects and enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant scavenging mechanisms of ROS in Poaceae crops against drought stress and how the manipulation of ROS regulates stress tolerance in plants. Understanding ROS systems in plants could help to create innovative strategies to evolve paths of cell protection against the negative effects of excessive ROS in attempts to improve crop productivity in adverse environments.

Background: Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is associated with increased mortality in patients with orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT). In addition to immunosuppression, CAV can be treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug eluting stents (DES) for focal lesions. There is a paucity of data on the rate of DES restenosis in patients with small vessel CAV., Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of 101 coronary vessels treated with a DES diameter of 2.5 mm or less (small vessels) in 61 OHT patients compared to 72 coronary vessels treated with a DES diameter of >2.5 mm (large vessels) in 44 OHT patients at a single center between 2004 and 2022. Baseline demographic data, angiographic characteristics, and clinical outcomes were analyzed., Results: At an average of 1.6 years after DES placement, follow-up angiography revealed in-stent restenosis in 36 (39 %) small vessel interventions and 11 (17 %) large vessel interventions (p = 0.003). Long term mortality did not differ between the groups (59 % vs 59 % at a median of 4.7 [IQR 2.4-7.8] years follow up)., Conclusion: DES restenosis rates are high in small vessel CAV. Additional studies specifically examining PCI in small vessel CAV as well as the potential role for newer treatment strategies for CAV are warranted., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Wissam A. Jaber is a consultant to Inari, Medtronic, Thrombolex, Abbott, and Shockwave Medical. William J. Nicholson is a consultant to Abiomed, Rampart, Teleflex, Asahi, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Abbott, and Shockwave Medical. All other authors have no conflict of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Myocardial infarctions locally deprive myocardium of oxygenated blood and cause immediate cardiac myocyte necrosis. Irreparable myocardium is then replaced with a scar through a dynamic repair process that is an interplay between hypoxic cells of the infarct zone and normoxic cells of adjacent healthy myocardium. In many cases, unresolved inflammation or fibrosis occurs for reasons that are incompletely understood, increasing the risk of heart failure. Crosstalk between hypoxic and normoxic cardiac cells is hypothesized to regulate mechanisms of repair after a myocardial infarction. To test this hypothesis, microfluidic devices are fabricated on 3D printed templates for co-culturing hypoxic and normoxic cardiac cells. This system demonstrates that hypoxia drives human cardiac fibroblasts toward glycolysis and a pro-fibrotic phenotype, similar to the anti-inflammatory phase of wound healing. Co-culture with normoxic fibroblasts uniquely upregulates pro-inflammatory signaling in hypoxic fibroblasts, including increased secretion of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). In co-culture with hypoxic fibroblasts, normoxic human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived cardiac myocytes also increase pro-inflammatory signaling, including upregulation of interleukin 6 (IL-6) family signaling pathway and increased expression of IL-6 receptor. Together, these data suggest that crosstalk between hypoxic fibroblasts and normoxic cardiac cells uniquely activates phenotypes that resemble the initial pro-inflammatory phase of post-infarct wound healing., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Oral cancer poses a significant threat to public health worldwide. In addition, because many chemotherapy treatments have negative side effects, natural herbs may be beneficial for oral cancer therapy. Achyranthes aspera (AA), a potential medicinal herb, exerts various pharmacological and biochemical activities., Objective: The present study aimed to predict the anti-oral cancer potential of AA using in silico tools and cell death by in vitro testing., Methods: A total of fourteen bioactive constituents from AA herb were selected using phytochemical databases. The toxicity of AA herb extract was analysed through MTT assay against oral carcinoma A253 cell line. The binding activities of the phytocomponents against serine/ threonine-specific protein kinases isoforms, namely Akt1 (PDB ID: 3qkk) and Akt2 (PDB ID: 2jdo) proteins, were analysed using Discovery Studio 2021 and PyRx docking software., Results: Cell viability data revealed that AA extract decreased the viability and reduced the number of live cells of the oral carcinoma A253 cell line in a dose-dependent manner. The halfmaximal concentration (IC50) value of AA was assessed as 204.74 μg/ml. Based on binding affinity, saponin C (-CDOCKER energy = -77.9862), oleanolic acid (-CDOCKER energy = - 49.4349), spinasterol (-CDOCKER energy = -38.1246), 36,47-dihydroxyhenpentacontan-4-one (-CDOCKER energy = -32.4386), and 20-hydroxyecdysone (-CDOCKER energy = -31.9138) were identified as the best compounds against Akt1, while, compounds saponin C (-CDOCKER energy = -134.412), oleanolic acid (-CDOCKER energy = -90.0846), spinasterol (-CDOCKER energy = -78.3213), 20-hydroxyecdysone (-CDOCKER energy = -80.1049), and ecdysone (- CDOCKER energy = -73.3885) were identified as Akt2 inhibitors. These top compounds fulfilled drug score values, pharmacokinetic and physicochemical characteristics, and druglikeness parameters., Conclusion: The present findings reveal that the lead phytomolecules of AA could be effective and developed as a prospective drug against oral cancer., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Importance: Advance care planning (ACP) remains low among patients with advanced cancer. Multilevel interventions compared with clinician-level interventions may be more effective in improving ACP., Objective: To evaluate whether a multilevel intervention could improve clinician-documented ACP compared with a clinician-level intervention alone., Design, Setting, and Participants: This randomized clinical trial, performed from September 12, 2019, through May 12, 2021, included adults with advanced genitourinary cancers at an academic, tertiary hospital. Data analysis was performed by intention to treat from May 1 to August 10, 2023., Intervention: Participants were randomized 1:1 to a 6-month patient-level lay health worker structured ACP education along with a clinician-level intervention composed of 3-hour ACP training and integration of a structured electronic health record documentation template (intervention group) or to the clinician-level intervention alone (control group)., Main Outcome and Measures: The primary outcome was ACP documentation in the electronic health record by the oncology clinician within 12 months after randomization. Secondary, exploratory outcomes included shared decision-making, palliative care use, hospice use, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations within 12 months after randomization., Results: Among 402 participants enrolled in the study, median age was 71 years (range, 21-102 years); 361 (89.8%) identified as male. More intervention group participants had oncology clinician-documented ACP than control group participants (82 [37.8%] vs 40 [21.6%]; odds ratio [OR], 2.29; 95% CI, 1.44-3.64). At 12-month follow-up, more intervention than control group participants had palliative care (72 [33.2%] vs 25 [13.5%]; OR, 3.18; 95% CI, 1.91-5.28) and hospice use (49 [22.6%] vs 19 [10.3%]; OR, 2.54; 95% CI, 1.44-4.51). There were no differences in the proportion of participants between groups with an emergency department visit (65 [30.0%] vs 61 [33.0%]; OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.57-1.33) or hospitalization (89 [41.0%] vs 85 [46.0%]; OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.55-1.22). Intervention group participants had fewer hospitalizations than control group participants (mean [SD] number of hospitalizations per year, 0.87 [1.60] vs 1.04 [1.77]) and a lower risk of hospitalization (incidence rate ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.65-0.98)., Conclusions and Relevance: In this randomized clinical trial, a multilevel intervention improved oncology clinician-documented ACP compared with a clinician-level intervention alone for patients with genitourinary cancer. The intervention is one approach to effectively increase ACP among patients with cancer., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03856463.

Purpose: To report the results of OPAL (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03574779) cohort A, a single-arm substudy of niraparib plus dostarlimab and bevacizumab for the treatment of advanced, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (PROC)., Methods: Participants with PROC who received 1-2 previous lines of therapy were treated with niraparib (200 or 300 mg once daily), dostarlimab (500 mg once every 3 weeks for four 21-day cycles, followed by 1,000 mg once every 6 weeks), and bevacizumab (15 mg/kg once every 3 weeks). The primary end point was investigator-assessed objective response rate (ORR) per RECIST v1.1. Safety was also assessed. Exploratory biomarker end points included evaluation of changes in the tumor molecular profile and microenvironment using baseline and on-treatment tumor samples., Results: Of 41 enrolled participants (median age, 66.0 years [range, 37-83 years]), 9.8% had tumors that were BRCA -mutated, 19.5% were homologous recombination (HR)-deficient, and 17.1% were HR repair (HRR)-mutated. As of the cutoff date, all participants discontinued treatment. The ORR was 17.1% (80% CI, 9.8 to 27.0), including one complete response (2.4%); the disease control rate was 73.2% (80% CI, 62.3 to 82.2). Two participants withdrew before first postbaseline scan because of adverse events (AEs). Grade ≥3 treatment-emergent AEs were reported in 92.7% of participants, with the most common being hypertension (26.8%). Response was not correlated with BRCA , HRR, HR deficiency (HRD), or PD-L1 status. Changes suggesting immune activation were observed in on-treatment samples after triplet therapy., Conclusion: Results demonstrated modest activity of niraparib, dostarlimab, and bevacizumab in participants with PROC, many of whom had prognostic factors for poor treatment response. Most participants with response were bevacizumab-naïve. No association was found with HRD, BRCA , or PD-L1 status. AEs were consistent with previous monotherapy reports, except that hypertension was reported more frequently.

Climate change has become increasingly intertwined with the occurrence and severity of droughts. As global temperatures rise due to greenhouse gas emissions, weather patterns are altered, leading to shifts in precipitation levels and distribution. These exacerbate the risk of drought in many regions, with potentially devastating consequences. A comprehensive transcriptome analysis was performed on Keteki Joha, an aromatic rice from North East India, with the aim of elucidating molecular responses to drought. Numerous genes linked to drought were activated, with both ABA-dependent and ABA-independent pathways playing crucial roles. Upregulated genes were enriched with gene ontology terms with response to abscisic acid and abscisic acid-activated signalling pathway, suggesting the existence of an ABA-dependent pathway for drought mitigation. The upregulated genes were also enriched with responses to stress, water, heat, jasmonic acid, and hydrogen peroxide, indicating the presence of an ABA-independent pathway alongside the ABA-dependent mechanism. Weighted Correlation Network Analysis (WGCNA) identified 267 genes that specifically govern drought mitigation in Keteki Joha. The late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) gene family emerges as the most overrepresented in both RNA sequencing data and WGCNA analysis, suggesting their dominant role in mitigating drought. Notably, 31 LEA genes were induced in seedlings and 32 in mature stages under drought stress. The LEA3-1, LEA14/WSI18, RAB16A, RAB16B, DHN1, DHN6, LEA1, LEA3, LEA17, and LEA33 exhibited and established co-expression with numerous other drought stress-related genes, indicating their inseparable role in alleviating drought. Consequently, LEA genes have been proposed to be primary and crucial responders to drought in Keteki Joha., (© 2024 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.)

Objective: To assess patient-reported health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with ovarian cancer (OC) who received niraparib as first-line maintenance therapy., Methods: PRIMA/ENGOT-OV26/GOG-3012 (NCT02655016) enrolled patients with newly diagnosed advanced OC who responded to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients were randomized (2:1) to niraparib or placebo once daily in 28-day cycles until disease progression, intolerable toxicity, or death. HRQoL was assessed as a prespecified secondary end point using patient-reported responses to the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QOL Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), the EORTC QLQ Ovarian Cancer Module (EORTC QLQ-OV28), the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Ovarian Symptom Index (FOSI), and EQ-5D-5L questionnaires. Assessments were collected at baseline and every 8 weeks (±7 days) for 56 weeks, beginning on cycle 1/day 1, then every 12 weeks (±7 days) thereafter while the patient received study treatment., Results: Among trial participants (niraparib, n = 487; placebo, n = 246), PRO adherence exceeded 80% for all instruments across all cycles. Patients reported no decline over time in HRQoL measured via EORTC QLQ-C30 Global Health Status/QoL and FOSI overall scores. Scores for abdominal/gastrointestinal symptoms (EORTC QLQ-OV28) and nausea and vomiting, appetite loss, and constipation (EORTC QLQ-C30) were higher (worse symptoms) in niraparib-treated patients than placebo-treated patients; except for constipation, these differences resolved over time. Patients did not self-report any worsening from baseline of fatigue, headache, insomnia, or abdominal pain on questionnaires., Conclusions: Despite some early, largely transient increases in gastrointestinal symptoms, patients with OC treated with niraparib first-line maintenance therapy reported no worsening in overall HRQoL., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr. Pothuri reports institutional grant support from AstraZeneca, Celsion, Clovis Oncology, Eisai, Genentech/Roche, GSK, I-Mab, Immunogen, Incyte, Karyopharm, Merck, Mersana, Onconova, Seagen, Sutro Biopharma, and Toray; consulting fees from AstraZeneca, GSK, GOG Foundation, Merck, and Seagen; support for attending meetings from GOG Partners; advisory board fees from Arquer Diagnostics, Atossa, Clovis Oncology, Deciphera, Eisai, Elevar Therapeutics, GOG Foundation, I-Mab, Immunogen, Lily, Merck, Mersana, Natera, Onconova, Regeneron, Sutro Biopharma, Tesaro/GSK, Toray, and VBL Therapeutic. Dr. Han has nothing to disclose. Dr. Chase reports consultant fees from AstraZeneca and GSK, and honoraria from AstraZeneca, GSK, Immunogen, and Seagen/Genmab. Dr. Heitz reports honoraria from AstraZeneca, GSK, Roche, and Tesaro; consulting fees from AstraZeneca, GSK, Roche, and Tesaro. Dr. Burger reports receiving travel support from Genentech and Mersana Therapeutics, stock from Genentech and Mersana Therapeutics, and is an employee of Genentech and Mersana Therapeutics. Dr. Gaba reports consulting fees, advisory board, and honoraria fees from AstraZeneca, Clovis Oncology, GSK, MSD, and PharmaMar, and support for attending meetings from AstraZeneca, Clovis Oncology, GSK, and MSD. Dr. Van Le has nothing to disclose. Dr. Guerra reports AstraZeneca, Clovis Oncology, GSK, Merck, Pharmamar, Roche, and Tesaro; honoraria from AstraZeneca, Clovis Oncology, GSK/Tesaro, and Merck; payment for expert testimony from AstraZeneca, Clovis Oncology, GSK, Merck, Tesaro; travel support from GSK, Roche, and Tesaro; advisory board participation for AstraZeneca, GSK, Merck, and Tesaro. Dr. Bender reports institutional grants from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Clovis Oncology Inc., Genentech, MSD, and Tesaro. Dr. Korach serves in a leadership role for ISGO. Dr. Cloven reports advisory board fees from Aadii, GSK, Kartos 2022, Novita Pharmaceuticals 2023, Tarveda Therapeutics, Toray, Umoja 2022, and Zentalis. Dr. Churruca reports payment for expert testimony from PharmaMar and support for attending meetings from GSK, and MSD. Dr. Follana reports payment for expert testimony from AstraZeneca, Clovis, Daiichi, GSK, and Novartis; and support for attending meetings from AstraZeneca, Daiichi, GSK, and Novartis. Dr. DiSilvestro reports consulting fees from AstraZeneca, GSK, and Immunogen; travel support from AstraZeneca; and leadership roles in the GOG Foundation Board of Directors and NRG Oncology Board of Directors. Dr. Baurain reports consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GSK, Immunocore, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Pierre-Fabre, Regeneron, Sanofi, and Sun Pharma. Dr. Jardon has nothing to disclose (deceased). Dr. Pisano has nothing to disclose. Dr. Peen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mäenpää reports honoraria from AstraZeneca, Eisai, and GSK. Dr. Gupta was an employee of GSK at the time the analysis was conducted; currently an employee of Mersana Therapeutics. Dr. Bacqué was an employee of GSK at the time the analysis was conducted; currently an employee of Repare Therapeutics. Dr. Li was an employee of GSK at the time the analysis was conducted and reports GSK stock ownership; currently an employee of Adagio Therapeutics. Ms. Compton is a former employee of GSK and currently receiving consulting fees from GSK. Dr. Antonova is a former employee of GSK. Dr. Monk reports consulting fees from Agenus, Akeso Biopharma, Amgen, Aravive, Bayer, Elevar, EMD Merck, Genmab/Seagen, GOG Foundation, Gradalis, ImmunoGen, Iovance, Karyopharm, MacroGenics, Mersana, Myriad, Novartis, Novocure, Pfizer, Puma, Regeneron, Sorrento, US Oncology Research, and VBL; and speakers' bureau honoraria from AstraZeneca, Clovis, Eisai, Merck, Roche/Genentech, and Tesaro/GSK. Dr. González-Martín reports manuscript funding from GSK; research/grant funding from Roche and Tesaro/GSK; advisory/consulting fees from Alkermes, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Clovis Oncology, Genmab, GSK, HederaDx, ImmunoGen, Illunina, MacroGenics, Mersana, MSD, Novartis, Novocure, Oncoinvent, Pfizer/Merck, PharmaMar, Roche, Seagen, Sotio, Sutro, Takeda, and Tubuli; speaker bureau fees from AstraZeneca, Clovis Oncology, GSK, PharmaMar, and Roche; and support for attending meetings from AstraZeneca, GSK, PharmaMar, and Roche., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Oxidative injury is concerned with the pathogenesis of several liver injuries, including those from acute liver failure to cirrhosis. This study was designed to explore the antioxidant activity of Bacopa monnieri (BM) on Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) induced oxidative damage in Wistar albino rats. Aflatoxin B1 treatment (200 μg/kg/day, p.o.) for 28 days induced oxidative injury by a significant alteration in serum liver function test marker enzymes (AST, ALT, ALP, LDH, albumin and bilirubin), inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) along with reduction of antioxidant enzymes (GSH, SOD, CAT), GSH cycle enzymes and drug-metabolizing enzymes (AH and AND). Treatment of rats with B. monnieri (20, 30 and 40 mg/kg for 5 days, p.o.) after 28 days of AFB1 intoxication significantly restored these parameters near control in a dose-dependent way. Histopathological examination disclosed extensive hepatic injuries, characterized by cellular necrosis, infiltration, congestion and sinusoidal dilatation in the AFB1-treated group. Treatment with B. monnieri significantly reduced these toxic effects resulting from AFB1. B. monnieri per se group (40 mg/kg) did not show any significant change and proved safe. The cytotoxic activity of B. monnieri was also evaluated on HepG2 cells and showed a good percentage of cytotoxic activity. This finding suggests that B. monnieri protects the liver against oxidative damage caused by AFB1, which aids in the evaluation of the traditional usage of this medicinal plant., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Introduction: There is an unmet need for high-quality data for Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) in the Indian population. Indian study group on partial nephrectomy (ISGPN) is a consortium of Indian centers contributing to the partial nephrectomy (PN) database. The current study is a descriptive analysis of perioperative and functional outcomes following RAPN., Methods: For this study, the retrospective ISGPN database was reviewed, which included patients who underwent RAPN for renal masses at 14 centers across India from September 2010 to September 2022. Demographic, clinical, radiological, perioperative, and functional data were collected and analyzed. Ethics approval was obtained from each of the participating centers., Results: In this study, 782 patients were included, and 69.7% were male. The median age was 53 years (interquartile range [IQR 44-62]), median operative time was 180 min (IQR 133-240), median estimated blood loss was 100 mL (IQR 50-200), mean warm ischemia time was 22.7 min and positive surgical margin rates were 2.5%. The complication rate was 16.2%, and most of them were of minor grade. Trifecta and pentafecta outcomes were attained in 61.4% and 60% of patients, respectively., Conclusions: This is the largest Indian multi-centric study using the Indian Robotic PN Collaborative database to evaluate the outcomes of robot-assisted PN, and has proven its safety and efficacy in the management of renal masses., Competing Interests: Akhil Dahiya is an Intuitive Surgical, California, US employee. The other authors declare that the research was conducted without commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright: © 2024 Indian Journal of Urology.)

Background: Adhesiveness with radicular dentin is absent with gutta-percha, leading to microleakage and hence re-infection. Root canal sealer helps to achieve an adhesive interface between gutta-percha and root dentin thereby resisting the displacement forces during the functioning of teeth which is evaluated by the push-out test. The aim of this study is to compare the push-out bond strength and to assess the relative bond failure between dentin-sealer, sealer-main cone of (1) epoxy resin, (2) silicon, (3) mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), (4) calcium hydroxide, (5) bioceramic, (6) zinc oxide eugenol containing root canal sealers., Methodology: Sixty human permanent lower premolars with one root were collected, disinfected, and decoronated at cemento-enamel junction. Instrumentation was done with a K3 40,0.06 Ni-Ti rotary file and obturated using the main cone and sealer. Based on the sealer utilized, six groups were created: Group 1: AH-Plus, Group 2: RoekoSeal, Group 3: MTA Fillapex, Group 4: Apexit, Group 5: Smart Paste Bio, and Group 6: Procosol. One slice each was obtained from the coronal, middle, and apicalsections of all the obturated canals. Push-out bond strength and failure modes were studied. Statistics involved analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the post hoc Tukey test., Results: All three sections exhibited the highest strength for Smart Paste Bio sealer and the least was for RoekoSeal. With all the sealers, the apical section had the highest strength followed by the middle and coronal., Conclusion: The smart seal system was superior to all other sealers and displayed a good bond to dentin., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024, Dudulwar et al.)

Viruses utilize cell surface glycans and plasma membrane receptors to attain an adequate attachment strength for initiating cellular entry. We show that SARS-CoV-2 particles bind to endogenous ACE2 receptors and added sialylated gangliosides in near-native membranes. This was explored using supported membrane bilayers (SMBs) that were formed using plasma membrane vesicles having endogenous ACE2 and GD1a gangliosides reconstituted in lipid vesicles. The virus binding rate to the SMBs is influenced by GD1a and inhibition of the ganglioside reduces the extent of virus binding to the membrane receptors. Using combinations of inhibition assays, we confirm that added GD1a in lipid membranes increases the availability of the endogenous ACE2 receptor and results in the synergistic binding of SARS-CoV-2 to the membrane receptors in SMBs.

Background: Anterior tooth discolorations can be treated conservatively and noninvasively through bleaching to achieve the desired esthetic outcomes. However, bleaching along with composite resin is advisable for certain clinical cases for optimum results. However, shear bond strength (SBS) of composite resin to the bleached tooth gets significantly lowered. Before placing the composite restoration, the bleached enamel needs to be treated with antioxidant agents to increase its SBS. The study aims to evaluate and compare the effect of herbal antioxidants on SBS of composite resin to bleached enamel at different time intervals., Materials and Methods: Sixty extracted single-rooted maxillary incisors postdecoronation, keeping their labial surfaces up were mounted in cold-cure acrylic resin. The samples were randomly divided into: Group I - unbleached; Group II - 10% pine bark extract for 10 min postbleaching; Group III - 10% pine bark extract for 20 min postbleaching; Group IV - application of 10% rosemary extract for 10 min postbleaching, Group V - application of 10% rosemary extract for 20 min postbleaching; Group VI - no application of antioxidant. 35% hydrogen peroxide was used for bleaching all the samples except those which served as negative control. Later composite cylinder 4 mm in diameter and length were built on prepared enamel. The maximum load at failure was recorded using the universal testing machine., Statistical Analysis: Data were analyzed using the analysis of variance and Tukey's t -test with significance level of P < 0.05., Results: Highest load was exhibited by Group I. Group V showed satisfactory shear strength followed by Groups IV, III, II, and VI., Conclusion: Both 10% rosemary and 10% pine bark extracts showed better results when applied for 20 min as compared to 10 min application. Increased duration of antioxidant application increases the SBS., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2024 Journal of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics.)

Purpose: Patients with well-differentiated, low-grade metastatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) usually have a long median survival and require complex, expensive care over many years at multidisciplinary centers. The cost burden for patients and institutions serves as a barrier to care. Understanding the drivers of these costs and whether intense monitoring adds value will help to optimize value-based care., Methods: We adapted the cost of care per patient per day (CCPD) validated methodology to measure cost while accounting for varying follow-up duration. We queried the Stanford NEN Database, which aggregates data from the electronic health record and other electronic sources, to study patients with metastatic NENs receiving regular care at Stanford. Current Procedural Terminology codes for services incurred during the monitoring period for each patient were mapped to the corresponding cost conversion factor and date in the Medicare fee schedule., Results: Two hundred two patients between 2010 and 2017 were studied with a mean CCPD of $119.11 in US dollars (USD); NEN-specific systemic therapy made up 55% of this cost. Somatostatin analogs were the costliest systemic therapy. Systemic therapy was the driver of cost differences among patients with various primary tumor types, stage of disease, tumor differentiation and grade, and functional hormone status. Patients in the most expensive CCPD group did not have a significant survival benefit ( P = .66)., Conclusion: The CCPD methodology was effective in studying cancer care value in NENs. Systemic therapy, specifically somatostatin analogs, was the primary driver of cost, and intense monitoring and higher-cost care did not improve survival outcomes.

Objective: Effort has been made to minimize the burden of non-interpretive tasks (NITs), in particular by hiring and training non-radiologist support staff as reading room coordinators (RRCs). Our medical center recruited and trained senior medical students from our affiliated school of medicine to work alongside on-call radiology residents as RRCs., Methods: A 12-month Malpractice Carrier monetary grant was acquired to fund medical students at with the aim to reduce malpractice risk. After the first year, residents were surveyed regarding the impact of the RRCs on perceived on-call efficiency and morale. Furthermore, report turnaround times (TAT) on call shifts that were and were not accompanied by a RRC were compared., Results: 89 % of residents strongly agreed that the RRC improved workflow efficiency, decreased distractions, and felt less stressed during the call shift when the RRC was on duty. 78 % strongly agreed to be more likely to contact a referring clinician when the RRC was able to help coordinate. The mean TAT in the presence of a RRC was 36.8 min, and the mean TAT in the absence of a RRC was 36.9 min DISCUSSION: After hiring medical students to assist on-call radiology residents with noninterpretive tasks, residents reported subjective indicators of program success, but average report turnaround time was unaffected. Nevertheless, we predict that this type of program will continue to grow among academic radiology departments, though additional research is required to evaluate national trends and impacts on radiologist productivity and well-being., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Nicolas Gillingham: None. Divya Gupta: None. Amita Kamath: None. Alexander Kagen: A relationship with Bayer Healthcare SAS that includes: consulting or advisory. A relationship with Nines that includes: board membership, employment, and equity or stocks. A relationship with Sirona Medical that includes: consulting or advisory., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: An endodontic treatment is considered a success after thorough chemomechanical debridement coupled with obturating root canals in a concrete way thereby providing hermetic seal. Gutta-percha being nonadherent necessitates use of a sealer to achieve hermetic seal. Adequate adhesion of root canal sealer with gutta-percha core and radicular dentin ensures lack of apical leakage., Materials and Methods: Sixty extracted mandibular premolars with single root canal decoronated at cementoenamel junction were selected and randomly allocated to two groups ( n = 30). Samples in Group 1 were prepared with BT Race file, while Group 2 samples were prepared with BT Race alongwith XP Endo file. Absorbent paper points were used for canal drying and samples were randomly divided into six subgroups. In Subgroup I, obturation was done with bio-ceramic (BC) sealer (Endosequence BC) and BC gutta-percha. In Subgroup II, resin-based (AH plus) sealer and gutta-percha were used. In Subgroup III, calcium hydroxide-based (Sealapex) sealer and gutta-percha were used. Sectioning of root samples was done perpendicularly into coronal, middle, and apical segments of 3 mm each. A universal testing machine was used for sample testing, in which push-out bond strength corresponded to the highest value obtained. Stereomicroscopic (×20) study of the samples determined the failure mode at dentin/sealer/main cone interface., Statistical Analysis: Analysis of variance and post hoc Tukey's tests were used for data analysis., Results: Endosequence BC with XP-Endo files showed the highest mean push-out bond strength (16.31 MPa), whereas Sealapex without XP-Endo file had the lowest values (12.76 MPa). Mixed failure of adhesive and cohesive mode was observed for most samples., Conclusion: Adjunctive irrigation agitation technique utilizing XP-Endo Finisher facilitates biofilm eradication from difficult niches in root canals, thereby improving adhesion of sealer and subsequently the sealer bond strength., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2024 Journal of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics.)

Introduction: Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) limits long-term survival in heart transplant (HTx) recipients. The use of biomarkers in CAV surveillance has been studied, but none are used in clinical practice. The predictive value of high-sensitivity troponin I (hsTnI) has not been extensively investigated in HTx recipients., Methods: HTx patients undergoing surveillance coronary angiograms and enrolled in the Emory Cardiovascular Biobank had plasma hsTnI measured. CAV grade was assessed using ISHLT nomenclature. Multivariable cumulative link mixed modeling was performed to determine association between hsTnI level and CAV grade. Patients were followed for adverse outcomes over a median 10-year period. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazard modeling were performed., Results: Three hundred and seventy-two angiograms were analyzed in 156 patients at a median 8.9 years after transplant. hsTnI levels were positively correlated with concurrent CAV grade after adjustment for age, age at transplant, sex, BMI, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and history of acute cellular rejection (p = .016). In an adjusted Cox proportional hazard model, initial hsTnI level above the median (4.9 pg/mL) remained a predictor of re-transplantation or death (hazard ratio 1.82; 95% confidence interval 1.16-2.90; p = .01)., Conclusion: An elevated hsTnI level reflects severity of CAV and is associated with poor long-term outcomes in patients with HTx., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Plant ATP-binding cassette (ABC) protein family is the largest multifunctional highly conserved protein superfamily that transports diverse substrates across biological membranes by the hydrolysis of ATP and is also the part of the several other biological processes like cellular detoxification, growth and development, stress biology, and signaling processes. In the agriculturally important legume crop Cajanus cajan, a genome-wide identification and characterization of the ABC gene family was carried out. A total of 159 ABC genes were identified that belong to eight canonical classes CcABCA to CcABCG and CcABCI based on the phylogenetic analysis. The number of genes was highest in CcABCG followed by CcABCC and CcABCB class. A total of 85 CcABC genes were found on 11 chromosomes and 74 were found on scaffold. Tandem duplication was the major driver of CcABC gene family expansion. The dN/dS ratio revealed the purifying selection. The phylogenetic analysis revealed class-specific eight superclades which reflect their functional importance. The largest clade was found to be CcABCG which reflects their functional significance. CcABC proteins were mainly basic in nature and found to be localized in the plasma membrane. The secondary structure prediction revealed the dominance of α-helix. The canonical transmembrane and nucleotide binding domain, signature motif LSSGQ, Walker A, Walker B region, and Q loop were also identified. A class-specific exon-intron pattern was also observed. In addition to core elements, different cis-acting regulatory elements like stress, hormone, and cellular responsive were also identified. Expression profiling of CcABC genes at various developmental stages of different anatomical tissues was performed and it was noticed that CcABCF3, CcABCF4, CcABCF5, CcABCG66, and CcABCI3 had the highest expression. The results of the current study endow us with the further functional analysis of Cajanus ABC in the future., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Institute of Plant Genetics Polish Academy of Sciences.)

Objective: Progression-free survival is an established clinically meaningful endpoint in ovarian cancer trials, but it may be susceptible to bias; therefore, blinded independent centralized radiological review is often included in trial designs. We compared blinded independent centralized review and investigator-assessed progressive disease performance in the PRIMA/ENGOT-ov26/GOG-3012 trial examining niraparib monotherapy., Methods: PRIMA/ENGOT-ov26/GOG-3012 was a randomized, double-blind phase 3 trial; patients with newly diagnosed stage III/IV ovarian cancer received niraparib or placebo. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors [RECIST] v1.1), determined by two independent radiologists, an arbiter if required, and by blinded central clinician review. Discordance rates between blinded independent centralized review and investigator assessment of progressive disease and non-progressive disease were routinely assessed. To optimize disease assessment, a training intervention was developed for blinded independent centralized radiological reviewers, and RECIST refresher training was provided for investigators. Discordance rates were determined post-intervention., Results: There was a 39% discordance rate between blinded independent centralized review and investigator-assessed progressive disease/non-progressive disease in an initial patient subset (n=80); peritoneal carcinomatosis was the most common source of discordance. All reviewers underwent training, and as a result, changes were implemented, including removal of two original reviewers and identification of 10 best practices for reading imaging data. Post-hoc analysis indicated final discordance rates between blinded independent centralized review and investigator improved to 12% in the overall population. Median progression-free survival and hazard ratios were similar between blinded independent centralized review and investigators in the overall population and across subgroups., Conclusion: PRIMA/ENGOT-ov26/GOG-3012 highlights the need to optimize blinded independent centralized review and investigator concordance using early, specialized, ovarian-cancer-specific radiology training to maximize validity of outcome data., Competing Interests: Competing interests: TJH has served on advisory boards (Aravive, AstraZeneca, Caris, Clovis Oncology, Eisai, Epsilogen, GSK, Immunogen, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Roche Genentech, Seagen) and as a consultant for Abbvie. SAW reports consulting fees (GSK and BioClinica). MRM reports personal fees and other (Karyopharm Therapeutics, Sera Prognostics, Roche); institutional grants and no financial interest (Apexigen, AstraZeneca, Deciphera, GSK, Ultimovacs); personal fees and invited speaker (AstraZeneca, GSK); personal fees and advisory boards (AstraZeneca, Biocad, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Karyopharm, Merck, Mersana, ImmunoGen, Clovis Oncology, Roche, Zailab); personal fees, stocks and a member of board of directors (Karyopharm). BP reports research funding (AstraZeneca, Celgene, Celsion, Clovis, Genentech, SeaGen, GSK, Merck, Mersana, SeaGen, Takada, Toray) and consulting fees (AstraZeneca, Celsion, Eisai, GSK, GOG Foundation, Immunogen, Inxmed, Lily, Merck, Mersana, SeaGen, Toray). IV reports consulting fees (Agenus, Akesobio, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Eisai, Elevar Therapeutics, Exelixis, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Genmab, GSK, Immunogen, Jazzpharma, Karyopharm, Mersana, MSD, Novocure, Novartis, Oncoinvent, OncoXerna, Regeneron, Sanofi, Seagen, Sotio, Verastem Oncology, Zentalis), travel grants (Karyopharm, Genmab, Novocure), and contracted research grants (Amgen, Roche, Oncoinvent AS). WSG reports advisory board and speaker fees (GSK). IAM, WY, and DG are employees of GSK. JAH is an employee of GSK and reports stocks in GSK. AGM reports personal fees for educational/advisory-related activities (Alkermes, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Clovis, Genmab, GSK, Immunogen, Mersana, MSD, Novocure, Oncoinvent, PharmaMar, Roche, SOTIO, Takeda). BJM reports consulting fees (Acrivon, Adaptimmune, Agenus, Akeso Bio, Amgen, Aravive, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Clovis, Eisai, Elevar, EMD Merck, Genmab/Seagen, GOG Foundation, Gradalis, Heng Rui, ImmunoGen, Karyoparm, Iovance, Laekna, Macrogenics, Merck, Mersana, Myriad, Novartis, Novocure, OncoC4, Panavance, Pieris, Pfizer, Puma, Regeneron, Roche/Genentech, Sorrento, GSK, US Oncology Research, VBL, Verstem, Zentalis); speakers honoraria (AstraZeneca, Clovis, Eisai, Merck, Myriad, Roche/Genentech, GSK); investigator honoraria (Gradalis)., (© IGCS and ESGO 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. Published by BMJ.)

The outcomes and management of bloodstream infection (BSI) in patients on temporary mechanical circulatory support (TMCS) awaiting heart transplant (HT) are poorly understood. We present outcomes of patients on TMCS with BSI (TMCS-I) relative to matched uninfected patients (TMCS-U) and discuss their management. Between January 1, 2013, and April 30, 2023, N = 136 patients were bridged to transplant with TMCS at Emory Transplant Center. Twenty-one (15.4%) patients were TMCS-I. Two (9.5%) had infective endocarditis. Median duration of antimicrobial treatment was 24 days (interquartile range 28.3). All TMCS-I were reactivated for transplant within 48 to 72 hours of negative blood cultures. None developed recurrent BSI. Post-transplant survival did not differ between TMCS-I and TMCS-U (p = 0.38). HT for TMCS-I may be safe as soon as blood cultures clear. Duration of antimicrobial therapy is individualized and depends on the organism, duration of bacteremia, presence of endocarditis, and timing of HT. Additional research is needed to determine optimal duration of treatment., (Copyright © 2023 International Society for the Heart and Lung Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Circadian misalignment of physiological factors in shift workers is poorly studied in the Indian population. In the present study, 24-hour blood pressure measurements were taken on the same subject twice, once during his morning and night shifts. Sleep was also monitored by a self-reported sleep diary, which was confirmed with an activity monitor, and the sleep quality was assessed using sleep questionnaires., Objective: This study aimed to discover the pattern of blood pressure variation, the dipping and non-dipping status, and its correlation with sleep., Methodology: This observational study was conducted in the Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh, from April 2019 to September 2019, among security guards working rotating shifts in the Rishikesh hospital premises. Participants were given an activity sheet with instructions to document their daily activities for a complete 24-hour period on the designated measurement day, including recording the time of waking up and going to sleep. A wrist-worn activity monitor was utilised to assess the self-reported sleep duration provided by each participant on the activity sheet., Results: The present study showed the mean age of the participants as 27.03 ± 2.71 years, along with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 22.10 ± 1.64. Sleep duration was significantly higher during the morning shift (5.81 ± 1.08 hours) compared to the night shift (4.02 ± 1.70 hours) on the day of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) recording. The mean difference in systolic blood pressure between night shift workers between their awake and sleep periods was 15.91 ± 8.44 mmHg. However, no statistically significant disparity was seen when comparing the systolic blood pressure at the 24-hour mark during wakefulness and sleep between those working morning and night shifts (p >0.05)., Conclusion: The current study's findings indicate that participation in shift work, particularly night shift work, could potentially play a role in the emergence of irregular circadian blood pressure patterns and potentially lead to a lack of nocturnal blood pressure decline., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Gupta et al.)

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have emerged as transforming technologies, bringing the potential to revolutionize a wide range of industries such as environmental monitoring, agriculture, manufacturing, smart health, home automation, wildlife monitoring, and surveillance. Population expansion, changes in the climate, and resource constraints all offer problems to modern IoT applications. To solve these issues, the integration of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and the Internet of Things (IoT) has come forth as a game-changing solution. For example, in agricultural environment, IoT-based WSN has been utilized to monitor yield conditions and automate agriculture precision through different sensors. These sensors are used in agriculture environments to boost productivity through intelligent agricultural decisions and to collect data on crop health, soil moisture, temperature monitoring, and irrigation. However, sensors have finite and non-rechargeable batteries, and memory capabilities, which might have a negative impact on network performance. When a network is distributed over a vast area, the performance of WSN-assisted IoT suffers. As a result, building a stable and energy-efficient routing infrastructure is quite challenging in order to extend network lifetime. To address energy-related issues in scalable WSN-IoT environments for future IoT applications, this research proposes EEDC: An Energy Efficient Data Communication scheme by utilizing "Region based Hierarchical Clustering for Efficient Routing (RHCER)"-a multi-tier clustering framework for energy-aware routing decisions. The sensors deployed for IoT application data collection acquire important data and select cluster heads based on a multi-criteria decision function. Further, to ensure efficient long-distance communication along with even load distribution across all network nodes, a subdivision technique was employed in each tier of the proposed framework. The proposed routing protocol aims to provide network load balancing and convert communicating over long distances into shortened multi-hop distance communications, hence enhancing network lifetime.The performance of EEDC is compared to that of some existing energy-efficient protocols for various parameters. The simulation results show that the suggested methodology reduces energy usage by almost 31% in sensor nodes and provides almost 38% improved packet drop ratio.

Marfan syndrome causes a hereditary form of thoracic aortic aneurysms with worse outcomes in male compared to female patients. In this study, we examine the effects of 17 β-estradiol on aortic dilation and rupture in a Marfan mouse model. Marfan male mice were administered 17 β-estradiol, and the growth in the aortic root, along with the risk of aortic rupture, was measured. Transcriptomic profiling was used to identify enriched pathways from 17 β-estradiol treatments. Aortic smooth muscle cells were then treated with cytokines to validate functional mechanisms. We show that 17 β-estradiol decreased the size and rate of aortic root dilation and improved survival from rupture. The Marfan transcriptome was enriched in inflammatory genes, and the addition of 17 β-estradiol modulated a set of genes that function through TNFα mediated NF-κB signaling. In addition, 17 β-estradiol suppressed the induction of these TNFα induced genes in aortic smooth muscle cells in vitro in an NF-κB dependent manner, and 17 β-estradiol decreased the formation of adventitial inflammatory foci in aortic roots in vivo. In conclusion, 17 β-estradiol protects against the dilation and rupture of aortic roots in Marfan male mice through the inhibition of TNFα-NF-κB signaling.

Background: Little is understood about the risk factors and outcomes from candidemia in thoracic solid organ transplant recipients., Methods: This is a single-center retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing heart or lung transplant between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2022. We performed two comparisons among heart and lung transplant recipients: (1) recipients with candidemia versus matched, uninfected recipients, and (2) recipients with candidemia versus recipients with bacteremia., Results: During the study 384 heart and 194 lung transplants were performed. Twenty-one (5.5%) heart and six (3.1%) lung recipients developed candidemia. Heart recipients with candidemia were more likely to have had delayed chest closure (38.1% vs. 0%, p < .0001), temporary mechanical circulatory support (57.1% vs. 11.9%, p = .0003), and repeat surgical chest exploration 76.2% vs. 16.7%, p < .0001) than uninfected controls. Heart and lung recipients who developed candidemia were more likely to have been on renal replacement therapy prior to infection relative to uninfected controls (57.1% vs. 11.9%, p = .0003 and 66.7% vs. 0%, p = .0041, respectively). Heart recipients with candidemia had significantly lower post-transplant survival and lower post-infection survival relative to matched uninfected controls and heart recipients with bacteremia, respectively (p < .0001 and p = .0002, respectively)., Conclusions: Candidemia following heart and lung transplantation is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Further research is needed to understand if heart recipients with delayed chest closure, temporary mechanical circulatory support, renal replacement therapy, and repeat surgical chest exploration may benefit from targeted antifungal prophylaxis., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: Full-length vaginal (FLV) brachytherapy for patients with endometrial cancer and high-risk features should be considered as per the American Brachytherapy Society to reduce distal vaginal recurrence in patients with endometrial cancers with papillary serous/clear cell histologies, grade 3 status, or extensive lymphovascular invasion. We sought to investigate this patient population and report outcomes of treatment with high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy in women treated with FLV brachytherapy versus partial-length vaginal (PLV) brachytherapy., Methods and Materials: With institutional review board approval, we identified patients with endometrial cancer meeting American Brachytherapy Society criteria of high-risk features treated with adjuvant HDR between 2004 and 2010. HDR doses were 21Gy in 3 fractions delivered to either the full-length or partial-length vagina. Acute and late toxicities were evaluated using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group scale and Radiation Therapy Oncology Group/European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer grading, respectfully. Vaginal recurrences were assessed by physical examination and pap smears. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 23 software., Results: Of 240 patients treated with HDR brachytherapy, 121 were treated with FLV brachytherapy, and 119, with PLV brachytherapy. The median follow-up was 9.5 years (range, 8-11 years) for FLV patients and 8.5 years (range, 7-10 years) for PLV patients; 0% of patients had vaginal recurrences, and 1.4% and 0.9% had proximal vaginal recurrences, respectively (P = .54). All patients treated with FLV brachytherapy developed grade 3 mucositis of the lower vagina/introitus (P < .0001) and had increased analgesics use compared with those treated with PLV brachytherapy (P < .0001). In total, 23% of patients treated with FLV brachytherapy developed grade 3 stenosis of the lower vagina/introitus, in contrast to 0% of patients treated with PLV brachytherapy (P < .0001)., Conclusions: PLV brachytherapy is as effective as FLV brachytherapy in reducing local recurrence and causes a significantly lower incidence of acute and late toxicities. The results of this study caution radiation oncologists regarding the careful use of FLV brachytherapy in patients with endometrial cancer and high-risk features., Competing Interests: Disclosures The work of all the listed parties was completed while they were affiliated with Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York; however, current affiliations are listed., (Copyright © 2023 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB) is due to variation in the COL7A1 gene. The clinical phenotype and severity depends on the type of variation and domain of the affected protein., Objectives: To characterize the spectrum of COL7A1 variations in a cohort of DEB patients from India, to correlate these findings with clinical phenotypes and to establish a genotype-phenotype correlation., Methods: This was a retrospective, observational study involving patients with DEB diagnosed on the basis of clinical manifestations, Immuno-fluorescence antigen mapping (IFM) and genetic analysis. A genotype-phenotype correlation was attempted and observations were further explained using IFM on skin biopsies and molecular dynamic simulations. Descriptive statistics were performed using SPSS version 20.0 with P values of <0.05 considered significant., Results: We report 68 unrelated Indian DEB patients classified as RDEB-Intermediate (RDEB-I), RDEB-Severe (RDEB-S) or DDEB based on the EB diagnostic matrix, immunofluorescence antigen mapping and genetic data. Of 68 DEB patients, 59 (86.76%) were inherited in a recessive pattern (RDEB) and 9 (13.24%) in a dominant pattern (DDEB). Limbal stem cell deficiency was seen in four cases of RDEB-S very early in the course of the disease. A total of 88 variants were detected of which 66 were novel. There were no hotspots and recurrent variations were seen in a very small group of patients. We found a high frequency of compound heterozygotes (CH) in RDEB patients born out of non-consanguineous marriage. RDEB patients older than two years who had oral mucosal involvement, and/or deformities, were more likely to have esophageal involvement. Genotype phenotype correlation showed a higher frequency of extracutaneous manifestations and deformities in patients with Premature Termination Codons (PTCs) than in patients with other variations. Molecular simulation studies in patients with missense mutations showed severe phenotype when they were localized in interrupted regions of GLY-X-Y repeats., Conclusion: This large study of DEB patients in South Asia adds to the continually expanding genetic database of this condition. This study has direct implications on management as this group of patients can be screened early and managed appropriately., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Gupta et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The β-lactam antibiotics are the most effective medicines for treating bacterial infections. Resistance to them, particularly through the production of β-lactamases, which can hydrolyse all kinds of β-lactams, poses a threat to their continued use. The synthesised flavone and coumarin based isoxazole derivatives have the potential to be used as broad-spectrum inhibitors of the mechanistically different serine-(SBL) and metallo-β-lactamases (MBL). The synthesised compounds were discovered as potent β-lactamase inhibitors using molecular docking and in silico pharmacokinetic analysis. We studied the binding of chemically synthesised inhibitors to clinically significant β-lactamases of class A, B, and C using biophysical and biochemical approaches, and computational analyses. These molecules follow Lipinski's rule of five and have acceptable solubility, permeability, and oral bioavailability. These molecules were found to be non-toxic and non-carcinogenic. MIC results suggest that these molecules restore the antibiotic efficacy against class A, B, and C β-lactamases. Kinetics data showed that these molecules reduce the catalytic efficiency of clinically relevant class A, B, and C β-lactamases. Fluorescence study showed significant interaction between these flavone-/coumarin-based isoxazole derivatives and class A/B/ C β-lactamases. This study showed promising effect of these new generation compounds as broad spectrum β-lactamase inhibitors of both SBLs and MBLs.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Multiple recent reports indicate that the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 specifically interacts with membrane receptors and attachment factors other than ACE2. They likely have an active role in cellular attachment and entry of the virus. In this article, we examined the binding of SARS-CoV-2 particles to gangliosides embedded in supported lipid bilayers (SLBs), mimicking the cell membrane-like environment. We show that the virus specifically binds to sialylated (sialic acid (SIA)) gangliosides, i.e., GD1a, GM3, and GM1, as determined from the acquired single-particle fluorescence images using a time-lapse total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscope. The data of virus binding events, the apparent binding rate constant, and the maximum virus coverage on the ganglioside-rich SLBs show that the virus particles have a higher binding affinity toward the GD1a and GM3 compared to the GM1 ganglioside. Enzymatic hydrolysis of the SIA-Gal bond of the gangliosides confirms that the SIA sugar unit of GD1a and GM3 is essential for virus attachment to the SLBs and even the cell surface sialic acid is critical for the cellular attachment of the virus. The structural difference between GM3/GD1a and GM1 is the presence of SIA at the main or branched chain. We conclude that the number of SIA per ganglioside can weakly influence the initial binding rate of SARS-CoV-2 particles, whereas the terminal or more exposed SIA is critical for the virus binding to the gangliosides in SLBs.

Extramammary Paget's disease is an intraepithelial neoplasm, usually found in areas rich in apocrine gland concentration. The clinical features, histopathology, immunohistochemistry and management details of five patients (F = 3, M = 2) have been described here. While a well-defined persistent plaque with crusting and erosion was the most common presentation, hyperpigmentation, hypopigmentation and depigmentation were also observed in two patients. Characteristic Paget's cells with cytokeratin 7 and EMA positivity were seen on histopathology examination. Authors conclude that pigmentary alterations may be under-reported in extra mammary Paget's disease in the skin of colour., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2023 Indian Journal of Dermatology.)

The distinct disease progression patterns of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus clade 2 (SARS-CoV-2) indicate diverse host immune responses. SARS-CoV-2 severely impairs type I interferon (IFN) cell signaling, resulting in uncontrolled late-phase lung damage in patients. For better pharmacological properties, cytokine modifications may sometimes result in a loss of biological activity against the virus. Here, we employed the genetic code expansion and engineered IFN-β, a phase II clinical cytokine with 3-amino tyrosine (IFN-β-A) that reactivates STAT2 expression in virus-infected human cells through JAK/STAT cell signaling without affecting signal activation and serum half-life. This study identified that genetically encoded IFN-β-A might stabilize the protein-receptor complex and trigger JAK-STAT cell signaling, which is a promising modality for controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: The PRIMA/ENGOT-OV26/GOG-3012 (NCT02655016) trial was amended to prospectively evaluate the safety and efficacy of an individualized starting dose (ISD) regimen of niraparib for first-line maintenance therapy in patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer., Methods: In the phase 3 PRIMA trial, patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer with a complete/partial response to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy (N = 733) were initially treated with a fixed starting dose (FSD) regimen of 300 mg once daily. Subsequently, the protocol was amended so newly enrolled patients received an ISD: 200 mg once daily in patients with baseline body weight < 77 kg or baseline platelet count < 150,000/µL, and 300 mg once daily in all other patients. Efficacy and safety outcomes were assessed by starting dose., Results: Overall, 475 (64.8%) patients were assigned to an FSD (niraparib, n = 317; placebo, n = 158) and 258 (35.2%) were assigned to an ISD (niraparib, n = 170; placebo, n = 88). Efficacy in patients who received FSD or ISD was similar for the overall (FSD hazard ratio [HR], 0.59 [95% CI, 0.46-0.76] vs. ISD HR, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.48-0.98]) and the homologous recombination-deficient (FSD HR, 0.44 [95% CI, 0.30-0.64] vs. ISD HR, 0.39 [95% CI, 0.22-0.72]) populations. In patients with low body weight/platelet count, rates of grades ≥3 and 4 hematologic treatment-emergent adverse events, dose interruptions, and dose reductions were lower for those who received ISD than for those who received FSD., Conclusions: In PRIMA, similar dose intensity, similar efficacy, and improved safety were observed with the ISD compared with the FSD regimen., (© 2023 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Cancer Society.)

Purpose: To identify risk factors for disease progression or death and assess outcomes by risk categories in real-world patients with advanced ovarian cancer., Methods: This retrospective study included adult patients from a nationwide electronic health record-derived deidentified database with stage III/IV ovarian cancer who received first-line therapy and had ≥12 weeks of follow-up after index date (end of first-line therapy). Factors predictive of time to next treatment and overall survival (OS) were assessed. Patients were grouped according to the cumulative number of high-risk factors present (stage IV disease, no debulking surgery or neoadjuvant therapy and interval debulking surgery, visible residual disease after surgery, and breast cancer gene [ BRCA ] wild-type disease/unknown BRCA status), and time to next treatment and OS were assessed., Results: Region of residence, disease stage, histology, BRCA status, surgery modality, and visible residual disease were significant predictors of time to next treatment; age, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, disease stage, BRCA status, surgery modality, visible residual disease, and platelet levels were significant predictors of OS (N = 1,920). Overall, 96.4%, 74.1%, and 40.3% of patients had at least 1, 2, or 3 high-risk factors, respectively; 15.7% of patients had all four high-risk factors. Observed median time to next treatment was 26.4 months (95% CI, 17.1 to 49.2) in patients with no high-risk factors and 4.6 months (95% CI, 4.1 to 5.7) in patients with four high-risk factors. Observed median OS was shorter among patients with more high-risk factors., Conclusion: These results underscore the complexity of risk assessment and demonstrate the importance of assessing a patient's cumulative risk profile rather than the impact of individual high-risk factors. They also highlight the potential for bias in cross-trial comparisons of median progression-free survival because of differences in risk-factor distribution among patient populations.

Chronic exposure to Ultraviolet B radiation (UV-B) evokes a myriad of toxic signalling events in the irradiated skin. One of such response is ER stress, which is known to exacerbate photodamage responses. Also, recent literature has highlighted the adverse impact of environmental toxicants on mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy. Impaired mitochondrial dynamics escalates oxidative damage and causes apoptosis. There have been evidences that support crosstalk between ER stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. However, mechanistic clarification is still needed to verify the interactions between UPR responses and mitochondrial dynamics impairment in UV-B-induced photodamage models. Lastly, plant-based natural agents have garnered attention as therapeutic agents against skin photodamage. Thus, gaining mechanistic insights of plant-based natural agents is required for their application and feasibility in clinical settings. With this aim in view, this study was performed in primary human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) and Balb/C mice. Different parameters regarding mitochondrial dynamics, ER stress, intracellular damage and histological damage were analyzed using western blot, rt-PCR and microscopy. We demonstrated that UV-B exposure leads to induction of UPR responses, upregulation of Drp-1 and inhibition of mitophagy. Further, 4-PBA treatment leads to reversal of these noxious stimuli in irradiated HDF cells, thereby, indicating an upstream role of UPR induction in mitophagy inhibition. Also, we explored the therapeutic effect of Rosmarinic acid (RA) against ER stress and impaired mitophagy in photodamage models. RA prevents intracellular damage via alleviation of ER stress and mitophagic responses in HDFs and irradiated Balb/C mice skin. The current study summarizes the mechanistic insights into UVB-mediated intracellular damage and role of natural plant-based agent (RA) in ameliorating these toxic responses., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: While dealing with the COVID-19-related morbidities and mortalities in general, its adverse impact on non-COVID-19 maternal mortalities was completely forgotten so our aim is t o study the adverse consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on non-COVID-19 hospital births and non-COVID-19 maternal mortalities., Methodology: Retrospective observational study was done in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Swaroop Rani Hospital, Prayagraj, to compare the non-COVID-19 hospital births, referrals, and non-COVID-19 maternal mortalities during 15 months of pre-pandemic period (March 2018 to May 2019) and 15 months of pandemic period (March 2020 to May 2021 period) and to assess their relation to GRSI using chi-square test, paired T test and Pearson's Correlation Coefficient., Result: The total non-COVID-19 hospital births decreased by 4.32% in pandemic period as compared to pre-pandemic period. Monthly hospital births decreased drastically, to 32.7% during the end of the first pandemic wave and to 60.17% during the second wave. 67% increase in the total referral and a significant decrease in the quality of referral leading to significantly higher non-COVID-19 maternal mortality figures ( p value 0.00003) during the pandemic period. Leading causes of mortalities were uterine rupture ( p value 0.00001), septic abortion ( p value 0.0001), primary postpartum hemorrhage ( p value 0.002) and preeclampsia ( p value 0.003)., Conclusion: While the world is talking only about COVID deaths, increased non-COVID-19 maternal mortalities during the COVID pandemic need equal attention and call for more stringent government guidelines for the care of non-COVID-19 pregnant women as well during the pandemic period., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© Federation of Obstetric & Gynecological Societies of India 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

AP2/ERF (APETALA2/Ethylene Response Factor) is a family of transcription factors that play essential roles in regulating gene expression in response to various environmental stimuli, including biotic and abiotic stresses, hormone signaling, and developmental processes. Pisum sativum (L.), commonly known as garden pea, is a winter crop sensitive to high temperatures and can also be affected by extreme cold and drought conditions. This study performed a genome-wide analysis of AP2/ERF genes and identified 153 AP2/ERF genes in P. sativum. Based on the conserved AP2/ERF domain and sequence homology, they were classified into AP2 (APETALA2), ERF (Ethylene Response Factor), DREB (Dehydration responsive element-binding), RAV (Related to Abscisic Acid Insensitive 3/ Viviparous 1) and Soloist subfamily. The DREB and ERF subfamily were further divided into groups A1-6 and B1-B6. Tandem and segmental duplication events were more frequent in the ERF subfamily, which can have important implications for their evolution and functional diversification. Under cold stress, the expression of DREB1A was highly induced in leaves, whereas DREB1B was suppressed. Similarly, the DREB2A, DREB2C, DREB2E, and DREB2F were induced in leaves under drought stress. The putative target genes of AP2/ERF transcription factors are highly diversified, suggesting that they play essential roles in various physiological responses in plants, including responses to biotic and abiotic stresses as well as developmental processes. Thus, this study of AP2/ERF genes and their functions provides valuable insight into how P. sativum responds to different environmental conditions, including cold and drought stresses., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Introduction: We evaluated real-world outcomes in patients with advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) based on their cumulative risk profile and maintenance therapy (MT) status following first-line (1L) treatment., Methods: This retrospective observational study of a nationwide electronic health record-derived de-identified database included adult patients diagnosed with stage III/IV OC from January 1, 2011 to February 28, 2021, who received 1L therapy and had ≥ 12 weeks of follow-up after the index date (end of 1L therapy). Patients were grouped according to whether they received MT or active surveillance (AS) following 1L treatment and by the cumulative number of risk factors (RF) present (stage IV disease; no surgery/treated with neoadjuvant therapy and interval debulking surgery; had postoperative visible residual disease; and had BRCA wild-type disease/unknown BRCA status). Time to next treatment (TTNT) and overall survival (OS) were assessed with a cloning and inverse probability of censoring (IPC)-weighted Kaplan-Meier method., Results: Among 1920 patients, 22.2% received MT and 77.8% received AS. Median IPC-weighted TTNT and OS were 13.3 months (95% CI 11.7-15.8) and 39.1 months (95% CI 32.5-48.6) in the MT cohort, respectively, and 8.6 months (95% CI 8.0-9.5) and 38.4 months (95% CI 36.4-41.0) in the AS cohort, respectively. Almost all patients had ≥ 1 RF (MT 95.3%; AS 96.7%). Median IPC-weighted TTNT was shorter among patients with more RF in both cohorts (MT: 1 RF, 19.3 months, 95% CI 13.5-37.8; 2 RF, 17.2 months, 95% CI 12.8-20.2; 3 RF, 11.0 months, 95% CI 8.2-13.8; 4 RF, 7.0 months, 95% CI 6.2-8.8; AS: 1 RF, 17.7 months, 95% CI 13.5-22.3; 2 RF, 10.2 months, 95% CI 9.1-11.5; 3 RF, 6.5 months, 95% CI 5.8-7.4; 4 RF, 4.1 months, 95% CI 3.5-4.5)., Conclusion: Regardless of RF number, MT was associated with longer TTNT in real-world patients with AOC., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

In recent years, there has been continuous improvement in the treatment and diagnosis of cancer, which has led to a significant improvement in the survival rate of cancer patients. Treatments that include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, or combined therapy have several side effects that may lead to premature ovarian insufficiency in females or substantial male germ cell loss. Reproductive biologists recommend that all patients who are diagnosed with a malignant tumor must undergo a consultation for fertility protection and preservation. In this review, we discuss the background knowledge, methods, and options for fertility preservation and how these new strategies help oncologists, surgeons, pediatricians, and hematologists, conserve fertility and be aware of the concepts, methods, and importance of fertility guards. This review may aid in the advancement of novel personalized methods for fertility preservation according to patients' conditions., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Background: Periodontal diseases (PDs) are one of the most common chronic diseases affecting overall oral functions, and their association with adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) has been an area of interest since the late 90s., Objectives: The present hospital-based case-control study aimed to find any association between maternal chronic periodontitis (CP) and preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW) by comparing the periodontal parameters in patients with normal birth, PTB and LBW., Material and Methods: The participants of the study were females that had delivered a live baby (n = 1,200). They were classified as either cases or controls. The cases were defined as PTB if the delivery was before 37 weeks of gestation, and as LBW if the infant weighed <2,500 g. The others were controls. The intraoral examination, which included recording the periodontal status, was conducted within 3 days of delivery. Detailed medical history and demographic data were recorded for the determination of the confounding factors. The multivariable dependence of PTB and LBW on both the categorical and continuous data was analyzed using a multivariate logistic regression analysis. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) for the risk of PTB and LBW were calculated., Results: A strong association with PTB was found for a high plaque index (PI) score (AOR = 1.61; p < 0.001; 95% CI: 1.26-2.07) and a mean pocket probing depth (PPD) ≥4 mm (AOR: 4.32; p < 0.001; 95% CI: 3.09-6.02). A strong association with LBW was found for a high PI score (AOR = 2.02; p < 0.001; 95% CI: 1.43-2.83) and a mean PPD ≥4 mm (AOR: 8.70; p < 0.001; 95% CI: 6.01-12.59). A high PI score and a mean PPD ≥4 mm were independent risk factors for PTB and LBW., Conclusions: The presence of deep pockets and inadequate plaque control in pregnant females increased the risk of APOs.