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Objective: Twitter (X) is increasingly utilized by medical residency programs to boost engagement and potentially enhance ranking. This study aims to evaluate the role of Twitter (X) in neurosurgery residency programs, assessing their online activity, followership, and content to identify current practices and potential improvements., Methods: We identified 97/123 neurosurgery residency programs in the United States with Twitter accounts. Active accounts, posting in 2022 and 2023, were matched with the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Neurosurgical Residency Training Program Directory. Tweets from January 2022 through June 2023 were categorized as original or retweets and further subcategorized based on content. Descriptive and correlation analyses were conducted., Results: Twitter (X) accounts were found for 78.8% of accredited neurosurgery programs (n = 97/123), with 68.3% active as of July 2023 (n = 84/123). All active accounts amassed 167,068 followers. Among 5612 tweets identified, 2764 were original content, and 2848 were retweets. Tweets primarily focused on resident or program information (64.3%), research publications (32.0%), and conference participation (9.4%). Only 12.3% (n = 341) of original tweets contained public medical information. A significant correlation (r = 0.493, P < 0.001) was observed between Twitter (X) following and program ranking., Conclusions: The majority of US neurosurgery residency programs actively use Twitter (X), primarily to showcase academic achievements and aid in recruitment. The correlation between Twitter following and program ranking suggests that online engagement reflects program visibility and impact, underscoring the importance of social media in program outreach and strategic management for maximizing program benefits., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Identification of unidentified human remains (UHRs) is crucial yet challenging, especially with traditional forensic techniques. Forensic anthropological examinations can yield ancestry estimations; however, the utility of these estimates is limited by the data points that can be collected from partial remains, complexities of admixture, and variation of phenotypic expression due to environmental effects. While it is generally known that anthropological estimates can be imprecise, the performance of these methods has not been studied at scale. Genome-wide SNP testing is an orthogonal approach for estimating ancestry and offers a unique opportunity to measure the magnitude of anthropological ancestry misattribution. Genomic ancestry inference leverages principal component analysis (PCA) and model-based clustering approaches. This study compares anthropologically determined ancestry with those estimated using genome-wide SNP markers. A dataset of 611 UHR samples with publicly available ancestry assessments from National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) was analyzed. The genetic ancestry approach, validated against reference population samples, offers robust ancestry calculations for major population groups. Inconsistency between anthropological and genomic ancestry assignments were observed, particularly for admixed populations. Although forensic anthropological examinations remain valuable, their limitations emphasize the need for refinement and enhancement through the augmentation of SNP-based analyses. Further validation studies are crucial to define the uncertainty associated with both anthropological and genome-based ancestry estimates to resolve cases and aid law enforcement investigations. Additionally, current policy and practices for reporting ancestry for UHRs should be revisited to reduce potential misinformation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest SM, BB, SM, KM, and DM are employed with Othram. HM and DS have no conflict of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Autologous fat transfer (AFT) is widely used to improve results of breast reconstructive surgery, but its safety is controversial. Our objective was to evaluate the oncologic safety of AFT in a homogeneous population of patients who underwent a total mastectomy with immediate reconstruction for breast cancer., Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study by identifying all patients who underwent immediate breast reconstruction after mastectomy for breast cancer from 2007 to 2015 in our center. A patient group with AFT performed in the 24 months after mastectomy was compared to a control group., Results: Five hundred fifty cases were included, of whom 136 (24.7%) underwent at least one fat graft transfer. Median age was 51 years. Reconstruction was performed in 465 (84.5%) with an implant reconstruction. The median time from mastectomy to AFT was 13.8 months. The median follow up was 55.2 months. A total of 53 events were observed, including 10 (7.4%) in the AFT group and 43 (10.4%) in the control group. There was no difference in 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) between the groups. In the subgroup analysis, only lymph node involvement in patients who underwent AFT in the first 24 months after oncologic surgery appeared as a risk factor of recurrence. Among the 104 patients with lymph node involvement, 5-year RFS was 69.2% in patients with lipofilling vs 92.5% in patients without it (p = 0 0.0351)., Conclusion: Performing early lipofilling in primary breast reconstruction after mastectomy for cancer seems to be oncologically safe. Lymph node involvement increases the risk of recurrence in this population., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is widely known as a frequent cause of respiratory distress among adults, particularly in older people. Recent years have witnessed several improvements in respiratory virus detection, leading to more questions about therapeutic management strategies., Objectives: This narrative review focuses on the RSV burden in older people and adults with risk factors and provides an update on the main recent developments regarding managing this infection., Sources: A comprehensive PubMed search was conducted till August 2023 to identify studies on RSV among the adult population. We included observational studies, RCTs on vaccines, and different therapies., Content: This review should give clinicians an overview of RSV epidemiology and burden among older people and adults with pre-existing risk factors, the most recent randomized clinical trials on RSV vaccines, and the existing data on the different therapeutics existing and under development., Implications: There is a growing body of evidence on RSV burden in adults. The landscape of preventive and curative treatments is quickly evolving., (Copyright © 2023 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: A crowdsourcing resource used by patients with spinal disease has yet to be thoroughly investigated: the Internet. One such platform is Reddit, a virtual, anonymous meeting place. Analyzing how patients use spinal condition "subreddits" may enable a greater understanding of the questions that patients do not ask their doctors., Methods: Up to 50 posts in each subreddit's "hot" tab were retroactively screened from June 1, 2022. Posts written by those who had the condition or those interested in knowing more were included. Redditors self-identifying as younger than 18 years were excluded. Posts were subcategorized into questions related to social advice, health advice, providing health education or suggesting equipment, detailing their personal experience, or researchers recruiting patients for research., Results: Eight subreddits with 398 posts were identified related to spinal conditions, including scoliosis, herniated disks, spondylolisthesis, kyphosis, spina bifida, and degenerative disk disease, and 2 subreddits for spinal cord injury. Most patients sought out health advice (59.8%), specifically related to questions regarding their treatments (33.6%), followed by social advice (14.1%) relating to activities in their daily lives. Six posts from the spinal cord injury subreddits discussed the inability to achieve or maintain an erection., Discussion: Patients with spinal conditions congregate on Reddit. Analysis of subreddits allows for a more robust fund of knowledge, granting providers an opportunity to address the main health concerns of patients and caregivers., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the high diagnostic accuracy of the nasopharyngeal swab (including in intensive care unit (ICU) patients). This study aimed to compare nasopharyngeal swab and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) results for non-SARS-CoV-2 viruses in patients with suspected pneumonia., Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed in one French academic hospital on consecutive adults from 2012 to 2018 and tested nasopharyngeal swab and BAL within 24 hours by using multiplex PCR. The agreement in pathogen detection between nasopharyngeal swab and BAL was evaluated., Results: Patients were primarily men (n = 178/276, 64.5%), with a median age of 60 years (IQR: 51-68 years). Of the 276 patients, 169 (61%) were admitted to the ICU for acute respiratory distress. We detected at least one respiratory virus in 34.4% of the nasopharyngeal swabs (n = 95/276) and 29.0% of BAL (n = 80/276). Two or more viruses were detected in 2.5% of the nasopharyngeal swabs (n = 7/276) and 2.2% of BAL (n = 6/276). Rhinovirus/enteroviruses were the most frequently detected viral group in 10.2% (n = 29/285) of the nasopharyngeal swabs and 9.5% (n = 27/285) of BAL, followed by influenza A, detected in 5.6% (n = 16/285) of the nasopharyngeal swabs and 4.9% (n = 14/285) of BAL. Overall agreement was 83.7% (n = 231/276 (95% CI [78.7%, 87.7%])) (i.e. same pathogen or pathogen combination was identified in the nasopharyngeal swab and BAL for 231 patients). Rhinovirus/enterovirus (n = 29/231) and respiratory syncytial virus (n = 13/231) had the lowest agreement of 62.1% (n = 18/29 (95% CI [42.4%-78.7%])) and 61.5% (n = 8/13 (95% CI [32.3%-84.9%])), respectively)., Conclusions: There was a good agreement between nasopharyngeal swabs and BAL in detecting respiratory viruses among adult patients with suspected pneumonia. However, these data still encourage BAL in the case of a negative nasopharyngeal swab., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Anxiety is implicated in the course and prognosis of alcohol use disorder (AUD); however, it is unclear how current AUD treatments affect the joint trajectories of anxiety and alcohol use. We used data from the Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol Dependence (COMBINE) study to examine the longitudinal relationship between subclinical anxiety symptoms and alcohol use during and following AUD treatment in adults with AUD and no comorbid anxiety disorders., Methods: Univariate and parallel process growth models using five waves of COMBINE study data were analyzed from 865 adults randomized to medication (n = 429) or medication plus psychotherapy (n = 436). Weekly drinking quantity and average weekly anxiety symptoms were measured at baseline, mid-treatment, end-of-treatment, and three follow-up periods., Results: Significant positive associations of anxiety symptoms and drinking were found at mid-treatment and over time. Temporal associations revealed that higher mid-treatment anxiety predicted decreases in drinking over time. Baseline anxiety and drinking predicted mid-treatment anxiety and drinking. Only baseline anxiety predicted increases in drinking over time. Group differences revealed mid-treatment drinking predicted decreases in anxiety over time in the medication group., Conclusions: Findings demonstrate the influence of subclinical anxiety on alcohol use during and up to one year after AUD treatment. Baseline anxiety symptoms may influence drinking behavior over the course of treatment. Findings suggest that greater attention to negative affect in AUD treatment is warranted even for those individuals who do have a comorbid anxiety disorder., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest Statement The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Direct anthropometric measurements to assess body composition have limited precision and/or specificity., Objectives: The study aimed to develop a prediction equation based on anthropometric measurements for estimating total body water (TBW) in a healthy population., Methods: TBW was assessed using the deuterium dilution method in 398 Moroccan participants (235 women and 163 men) aged 11.6-88 y, then compared to the estimations made by previously published anthropometric equations. By sex, participants were randomly assigned into development (n = 199) and validation subgroups (n = 199). A new anthropometric equation was developed in the development subgroup from data obtained on body volume (BV), weight, and sex, where the BV was calculated from participants' height. Then the equation was validated in the validation subgroup using the Bland and Altman procedure, bias, and pure error. External validation was performed using a sample from Tunisia (n = 220, 51.8% female, 18-65 y)., Results: Bias in predicting TBW showed unacceptable value for all previously published equations as it was significantly overestimated. The following new equation using anthropometric measurements [TBW (kg) = -5.249 + 107.502 BV (L) + 0.289 weight (kg) + 2.015 sex (male: 1, female: 0); (R 2 = 0.91, RMSE = 1.885 kg)] was developed, and its internal validation was confirmed. The generated bias and pure error values were 0.047 kg (95% CI: -0.235, 0.330) and 2.02 kg (95% CI: 1.73, 2.31), respectively. The external validation of the new TBW prediction equation on a Tunisian sample showed a bias and pure error values of 0.07 kg (95% CI: -0.289, 0.429) and 2.36 kg, respectively., Conclusions: The results indicate that the new anthropometric-based prediction equation provides a good estimation of TBW and other body composition compartments. It could be recommended as an alternative method to assess body composition for epidemiological and clinical studies., (Copyright © 2023 American Society for Nutrition. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Ticks represent a major source of growing economic and public health concern, especially in the tropics and sub-tropics. Towards evidencing ticks' invasion in the North and North-Western parts of Egypt, the present study aimed to investigate the morpho-molecular aspects of those ectoparasites using stereomicroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and sequencing of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA gene (rDNA) and nuclear second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2). Our analysis confirmed the presence and well-distribution of Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. infesting dogs and sheep (Alexandria governorate), Rhipicephalus annulatus infesting cattle (Beheira governorate), and Hyalomma dromedarii infesting camels (Marsa Matruh governorate) from North/North-Western Egypt. 16S rDNA and ITS2 sequences of the ticks were amplified using universal and gene-specific sets of primers, sequenced and analyzed. Lengths of amplified 16S rDNA sequences in all examined tick species were found to be similar in size (approximately 460 bp); however, they differed in base pair constitutions, whereas ITS2 lengths were 1,500 bp, 1,550 bp, and 1,800 bp for Rh. annulatus, Rh. sanguineus s.l., and Hy. dromedarii, respectively. Phylogenetically, based on the 16S rDNA results, Rh. sanguineus s.l. ticks clustered with the southeastern Europe lineage from Romania and Greece, Rh. annulatus ticks were similar to Turkish populations, and Hy. dromedarii were close to the isolates from Tunisia. Similarly, based on ITS2 sequences, Rh. sanguineus s.l. from dogs were showing 99% similarity to Nigerian populations; however, those collected from sheep were closer to Iranian populations with 4.1% nucleotide divergence between the two populations of different hosts. Rh. annulatus ticks were identical to a population from Romania, whereas Hy. dromedarii was close by 99.7% similarity to a population from Kenya. This is the first study reporting nucleotide sequences of 16S rDNA and ITS2 in integration with morphological identification of ticks from this part of Egypt., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Rhinoviruses are commonly considered simple "common cold" agents. The link between their molecular epidemiology and patient clinical presentation and outcomes remains unclear in adult populations., Materials/methods: All nasopharyngeal or bronchoalveolar lavages were screened using multiplex PCR in 3 Parisian hospitals from January 2018 to September 2018. For all detected rhinoviruses, the VP2/VP4 region was subtyped by sequencing., Results: The study included 178 unique patients who were positive for human rhinovirus (HRV). They were primarily men (56%), with a median age of 62.2 years (IQR: 46.8-71.4), frequently presenting chronic respiratory diseases (56%) and/or immunosuppression (46%). Of these, 63% were admitted for respiratory distress, including 25% for pneumonia; 95 (53%), 27 (15%), and 56 (32%) were positive for HRV-A, -B, and -C, respectively. HRV-B appeared to be more associated with immunosuppressive treatments (58% vs 30% and 36% of patients for HRV-A and -C, respectively, p = 0.038), higher coinfection rates (54% vs 34% and 23%, p = 0.03), and higher intensive care unit (ICU) admission rates (35% vs 17% and 13%, p = 0.048). Conversely, HRV-A was more frequently associated with pneumonia (54% vs 31% and 11% for HRV-B and -C, respectively, p = 0.01)., Conclusions: This study highlights the high proportion of chronic respiratory diseases or immunosuppression among hospitalized patients infected with a rhinovirus., Important: Human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are frequently detected in patients hospitalized for respiratory distress. Understanding their molecular differences is crucial to finding target treatments and improving patient outcomes., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The sudden spread of the COVID-19 pandemic disturbed the entire macroeconomic system and overturned the expectations of financial market participants and decision-makers. Using a TVP-BVAR-SV model, I investigate the transmission of the quantitative easing (QE) to the exchange rate and the business credit in the Eurozone during the pre-and post-COVID-19 outbreak. I find that the responses of the exchange rate EUR/USD to monetary policy shocks vary over time. In particular, I show that the QE policy does not generate the expected effect on the exchange rate during the COVID-19 pandemic period. The results imply that the unforeseen COVID-19 crisis has disturbed and modified investors' behavior., (© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Selective targeting of BCL-2 with the BH3-mimetic venetoclax has been a transformative treatment for patients with various leukemias. TP-53 controls apoptosis upstream of where BCL-2 and its prosurvival relatives, such as MCL-1, act. Therefore, targeting these prosurvival proteins could trigger apoptosis across diverse blood cancers, irrespective of TP53 mutation status. Indeed, targeting BCL-2 has produced clinically relevant responses in blood cancers with aberrant TP-53. However, in our study, TP53-mutated or -deficient myeloid and lymphoid leukemias outcompeted isogenic controls with intact TP-53, unless sufficient concentrations of BH3-mimetics targeting BCL-2 or MCL-1 were applied. Strikingly, tumor cells with TP-53 dysfunction escaped and thrived over time if inhibition of BCL-2 or MCL-1 was sublethal, in part because of an increased threshold for BAX/BAK activation in these cells. Our study revealed the key role of TP-53 in shaping long-term responses to BH3-mimetic drugs and reconciled the disparate pattern of initial clinical response to venetoclax, followed by subsequent treatment failure among patients with TP53-mutant chronic lymphocytic leukemia or acute myeloid leukemia. In contrast to BH3-mimetics targeting just BCL-2 or MCL-1 at doses that are individually sublethal, a combined BH3-mimetic approach targeting both prosurvival proteins enhanced lethality and durably suppressed the leukemia burden, regardless of TP53 mutation status. Our findings highlight the importance of using sufficiently lethal treatment strategies to maximize outcomes of patients with TP53-mutant disease. In addition, our findings caution against use of sublethal BH3-mimetic drug regimens that may enhance the risk of disease progression driven by emergent TP53-mutant clones., (© 2021 by The American Society of Hematology.)

The tumor microenvironment in chondrosarcoma (CHS), a chemo- and radio-resistant cancer provides unique hallmarks for developing a chondrosarcoma targeted drug-delivery system. Tumor targeting could be achieved using a quaternary ammonium function (QA) as a ligand for aggrecan, the main high negative charged proteoglycan of the extracellular matrix of CHS, and a 2-nitroimidazole as trigger that enables hypoxia-responsive drug release. In a previous work, ICF05016 was identified as efficient proteoglycan-targeting hypoxia-activated prodrug in a human extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma model in mice and a first study of the structure-activity relationship of the QA function and the alkyl linker length was conducted. Here, we report the second part of the study, namely the modification of the nitro-aromatic trigger and the position of the proteoglycan-targeting ligand at the aromatic ring as well as the nature of the alkylating mustard. Synthetic approaches have been established to functionalize the 2-nitroimidazole ring at the N-1 and C-4 positions with a terminal tertiary alkyl amine, and to perform the phosphorylation step namely through the use of an amine borane complex, leading to phosphoramide and isophosphoramide mustards and also to a phosphoramide mustard bearing four 2-chloroethyl chains. In a preliminary study using a reductive chemical activation, QA-conjugates, except the 4-nitrobenzyl one, were showed to undergo efficient cleavage with release of the corresponding mustard. However N,N,N-trimethylpropylaminium tethered to the N-1 or C-4 positions of the imidazole seemed to hamper the enzymatic reduction of the prodrugs and all tested compounds featured moderate selectivity toward hypoxic cells, likely not sufficient for application as hypoxia-activated prodrugs., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Health Education in the emergency department (ED) is one of the tasks that the HIV-exposure triage implementation needs to be considered. No triage training has been evaluated., Methods: A prospective 3-years pre- and post-intervention study in an urban academic ED was realized. The intervention was a simulation-based training on triage rules for triage nurses. Triage is based on time between HIV-exposure and ED arrival (≤48 h: level 2 (urgent); ≥48 h: level 5 (non-urgent))., Findings: A total of 2011 HIV-exposures were included; 15.1 per cent were well triaged in pre-intervention vs. 88 per cent in post-intervention period (P < 0.0001). Among well-triaged patients as level 2, the post-exposure prophylaxis prescription rate increased from 30.5 to 57.6 per cent (P < 0.0001). Time interval quality indicators (minutes) were: ED arrival-Triage Nurse 10.9 ± 9.6 vs. 9.1 ± 4.8 (P < 0.0001), ED arrival-Physician 56.3 ± 26.0 vs. 49.9 ± 36.0 (P = 0.0001), and ED arrival to Post-exposure prophylaxis first-dose 86.9 ± 30.0 vs. 65.2 ± 42.0 (P < 0.0001)., Conclusions: These results suggest that time interval HIV-exposure to ED arrival can be used as a triage criterion. A continuous quality improvement program for PEP after HIV-exposure based on a nurse triage training program achieved the objectives of optimizing the triage performance by reducing the time to access the post-exposure prophylaxis first-dose., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The influence of the addition of low methoxyl amidated pectin (LMA) on acid milk gels from whole camel milk (WCM) on physicochemical and rheological proprieties were studied. The zeta potential, particle size, viscosity, dynamic oscillatory rheology and isothermal titration calorimetry were monitored. The presence of LM-pectin in milk had an impact on the average size of the casein micelles and a large and dominant influence on rheological behavior during acidification. Zeta potential and viscosity of gels with 0.5% pectin were not affected. However, milk gels containing 1%, 1.5% and 2% of LM-pectin showed highest values of particle size at pH4. This modification of the structure of the casein micelles induces a significant improvement (p<0.05) on its acid gelation behavior. Therefore, the addition of pectin enhanced the rheological proprieties. Higher pectin concentration led to a strong gel with higher G' values. This result could be attributed to the formation of complexes and the mechanical spectra prove the hypothesis that pectin forms strands with caseins micelles. Isothermal titration calorimetry results showed that pectin concentration had a marked influence on the gels structure and that this polysaccharide stabilizes caseins micelles in acidified camel milk gel due to electrostatic interaction and steric repulsion., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

This article reviews two interrelated areas of research: the first is the use of TiO 2 -supported adsorbent materials as enhanced heterogeneous photocatalysts and their application to various reactions for organic pollutant removal from air and water; the second is the combination of adsorbent materials with TiO 2 photocatalysts which aims to efficiently regenerate adsorbent materials using illumination. By reviewing both areas of research, the following topics are covered; (i) photocatalytic activation of TiO 2; (ii) related properties of photocatalytic TiO 2; (iii) shortcomings of photocatalytic processes; (iv) preparation methods of composite TiO 2 /adsorbent materials and their photocatalytic performance; (v) properties of common adsorbents and their applications for pollutant removal from air and water; (vi) adsorbent regeneration methods and their economic and operational issues; (vii) conclusions and future outlooks. This topic has not been previously reviewed to such an extent, and considerable knowledge can be gained from assembling the large number of studies on adsorption-photocatalysis combinations. As such, this review provides guidance for researchers working in the fields of environmental and chemical engineering focussing on organic pollutant removal and the engineering of new high performance photocatalytic TiO 2 -supported porous adsorbent materials., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Magnesium stearate is the salt of a complex mixture of fatty acids, with the majority being stearate and palmitate. It has multiple crystalline forms and, potentially, an amorphous form. Magnesium stearate is used in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry as a powder lubricant, and typically is added at low levels (∼1%) during the manufacturing process and blended for a relatively short time (∼5 min). Proper levels and mixing times are needed, as too short a mixing time or too small a quantity will result in improper lubrication, and too much can negatively impact dissolution rates. The complex mixture of multiple fatty acids and crystalline forms in magnesium stearate leads to variability between commercial sources, and switching between sources can impact both the amount of lubricant and mixing time needed for proper lubrication. In order to better understand the complex nature of magnesium stearate, a variety of analytical techniques were used to characterize both synthesized and commercial magnesium stearate samples. The results show that correlation among differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, solid-state NMR spectroscopy, and other techniques provides a unique insight into the forms of magnesium stearate. Finally, the ability to monitor form changes of magnesium stearate in an intact tablet using solid-state NMR spectroscopy is shown., (Copyright © 2016 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cancer staging is a way to classify cancer according to the extent of the disease in the body. The stage is usually determined by several factors such as the location of the primary tumor, the tumor size, the degree of spread in the surrounding tissues, etc. The study of E-cadherin (EC) expression on cancerous cells of patients has revealed variations in the molecular expression patterns of primary tumors and metastatic tumors. The detection of these cells requires a long procedure involving conventional techniques, thus, the requirement for development of new rapid devices that permit direct and highly sensitive detection stimulates the sensing field progress. Here, we explore if E-cadherin could be used as a biomarker to bind and detect epithelial cancer cells. Hence, the sensitive and specific detection of E-cadherin expressed on epithelial cells is approached by immobilizing anti-E-cadherin antibody (AEC) onto aminosilanized indium-tin oxide (ITO) surface. The immunosensing surfaces have been characterized by electrochemical measurements, wettability and confocal microscopy and their performance has been assessed in the presence of cancer cell lines. Under optimal conditions, the resulting immunosensor displayed a selective detection of E-cadherin expressing cells, which could be detected either by fluorescence or electrochemical techniques. The developed immunosensing surface could provide a simple tool that can be applied to cancer staging., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Increasingly, organizations in general, and social service organizations, specifically, are recognizing the importance of planning and evaluating organizational wellness initiatives. Yet, few participatory models for carrying out these aims exist. For this study, researchers utilized concept mapping (CM) to explicate a conceptual framework for planning, and subsequently evaluating, a wellness initiative at a multi-state social service organization. CM is a participatory approach that analyzes qualitative data via multi-dimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analyses. Outputs include a number of visual depictions that allow researchers to explore complex relationships among sets of the data. Results from this study indicated that participants (N=64), all of whom were employees of the agency, conceptualized organizational wellness via an eight-cluster solution, or Concept Map. Priority areas of this framework, specifically importance and feasibility, were also explored. After a brief review of pertinent literature, this article explicates the CM methodology utilized in this study, describes results, discusses lessons learned, and identifies apt areas for future research., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate effective methods for communicating the personalized risks of alcohol consumption, particularly to young people., Methods: An interactive computerized blood alcohol content calculator was implemented in Flash based on literature findings for effectively communicating risk. Young people were consulted on attitudes to the animation features and visualization techniques used to display personalized risk based on disclosed alcohol consumption., Results: Preliminary findings reveal the calculator is relatively enjoyable to use for its genre. However, the primary aims of the visualization tool to effectively communicate personalized risk were undermined for some users by technical language. Transparency of risk calculations might further enhance the tool for others. Worryingly, user feedback revealed a tension between accurate presentation of risk and its consequent lack of sensationalism in terms of personal risk to the individual., Conclusion: Initial findings suggest the tool may provide a relatively engaging vehicle for exploring the link between action choices and risk outcomes. Suggestions for enhancing risk communication include using intelligent techniques for selecting data presentation formats and for demonstrating the effects of sustained risky behavior., Practice Implications: Effective communication of risk contributes only partially to effecting behavior change; the role of the tool in influencing contributing attitudinal factors is also discussed., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: We assess the efficacy and utility of automatically generated textual summaries of patients' medical histories at the point of care., Method: Twenty-one clinicians were presented with information about two cancer patients and asked to answer key questions. For each clinician, the information on one of the patients comprised their official hospital records, and for the other patient it comprised summaries that were computer-generated by a natural language generation system from data extracted from the official records. We measured the accuracy of the clinicians' responses to the questions, the time they took to complete them, and recorded their attitude to the computer-generated summaries., Results: Results showed no significant difference in the accuracy of responses to the computer-generated records over the official records, but a significant difference in the time taken to assess the patients' condition from the computer-generated records. Clinicians expressed a positive attitude towards the computer-generated records., Conclusion: AI-based computer-generated textual summaries of patient histories can be as accurate as, and more efficient than, human-produced patient records for clinicians seeking to accurately identify key information about a patients overall history., Practice Implications: Computer-generated textual summaries of patient histories can contribute to the management of patients at the point-of-care., (Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Doxorubicin (Dox) has demonstrated potent activity in treating malignant lymphomas but its therapeutic efficacy is hampered by induction of cardiotoxicity. This side effect is related to the ability of the drug to generate reactive oxygen species in cells. Previously, we demonstrated that coupling Dox to penetratin (Pen), a cell penetrating peptide, represent a valuable strategy to overcome drug resistance in CHO cells. In the present study, we evaluated the consequences of the conjugation of Dox to Pen in term of apoptosis induction. When tested on CHO cells, Dox-Pen generated a typical apoptotic phenotype but at lower dose that needed for unconjugated Dox. Cell death induction was associated with chromatin condensation, caspase activation, Bax oligomerisation and release of cytochrome c. By using reactive oxygen species and c-jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitors, we prevented Dox- and Dox-Pen-induced CHO cell death. The chimeric soluble DR5 receptor that inhibits TRAIL induced cell death does not prevent Dox or Dox-Pen-induced cytotoxicity. These observations indicate that conjugation of Dox to cell penetrating peptide does not impair the ability of the drug to trigger cell death through activation of the intrinsic pathway involving c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase but could exhibit less toxic side effects and could warrant its use in clinic., ((c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Microscopical and PCR-based techniques were performed in order to investigate the prevalence of infection and the genotypes of Giardia duodenalis from 125 stool samples collected from children living in the urban and the rural areas of Tirana (Albania) and hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis. 7 out of 125 samples resulted positive for Giardia at the microscopic examination (5.6%). In 50 selected samples including the 7 samples positive for Giardia by microscopy, 3 and 15 additional positive samples were detected by immunofluorescence and PCR, respectively. Seasonality appeared as an important parameter to be evaluated in order to better understand the prevalence of infection. Sequence analysis revealed both human Assemblage A and B. This result represents the first data on G. duodenalis genotypes in Albania.

Soil contamination is a major environmental problem due to the ecological threat it poses. In this work, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and leaching studies were employed to explain the different leaching behaviors of non-stabilized and stabilized soils. The applicability of the leaching fluids used in the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) and Australian Standards, AS 4439.1-1997 for assessing the hazards of contaminated soils was investigated as was the leaching of lead from soil stabilized by cement and buffered phosphate techniques. The results showed Pb speciation in the soil highly influenced metal leaching. The synthetic leaching fluids were unable to provide a reliable estimation of Pb concentration in the municipal landfill leachate (ML) due to the absence of organic ligands capable of forming stable complexes with the lead. Water provided the closest representation of lead leaching from the non-stabilized and phosphate stabilized soils while sodium tetraborate buffer was found to be suitable for cement-stabilized soil in a non-putrescible landfill leachate system. A comparison of stabilization methods revealed that the buffered phosphate technique was more suitable for stabilizing the lead in the soil relative to cement stabilization.

Having the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) as a starting point, this study examined the effect of the various leaching parameters on the leaching of Pb and Cd from cementitious wastes. Using modified TCLP procedures, the parameters investigated were the acid concentration, leaching duration, particle size of the crushed waste, liquid to solid ratio, and the acid type. The main finding was that the final leachate pH controls the leachability of metals due to its influence on their solubility. The high alkalinity of cementitious waste buffers the leachate at a pH where most metals become insoluble. The TCLP was found to result in an unrealistic condition for cementitious wastes due to the high resultant leachate pH.