bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Albumin-bound paclitaxel augment temozolomide treatment sensitivity of glioblastoma cells by disrupting DNA damage repair and promoting ferroptosis
Authors: Qu Shanqiang , Qi Songtao , Zhang Huayang , Li Zhiyong , Wang Kaicheng , Zhu Taichen , Ye Rongxu , Zhang Wanghao , Huang Guanglong , Yi Guo-zhong
Published: October 2023

Background

Temozolomide (TMZ) treatment efficacy in glioblastoma (GBM) patients has been limited by resistance in the clinic. Currently, there are no clinically proven therapeutic options available to restore TMZ treatment sensitivity. Here, we investigated the potential of albumin-bound paclitaxel (ABX), a novel microtubule targeting agent, in sensitizing GBM cells to TMZ and elucidated its underlying molecular mechanism.

Methods

A series of in vivo and in vitro experiments based on two GBM cell lines and two primary GBM cells were designed to evaluate the efficacy of ABX in sensitizing GBM cells to TMZ. Further proteomic analysis and validation experiments were performed to explore the underlying molecular mechanism. Finally, the efficacy and mechanism were validated in GBM patients derived organoids (PDOs) models.

Results

ABX exhibited a synergistic inhibitory effect on GBM cells when combined with TMZ in vitro. Combination treatment of TMZ and ABX was highly effective in suppressing GBM progression and significantly prolonged the survival oforthotopic xenograft nude mice, with negligible side effects. Further proteomic analysis and experimental validation demonstrated that the combined treatment of ABX and TMZ can induce sustained DNA damage by disrupting XPC and ERCC1 expression and nuclear localization. Additionally, the combination treatment can enhance ferroptosis through regulating HOXM1 and GPX4 expression. Preclinical drug-sensitivity testing based on GBM PDOs models confirmed that combination therapy was significantly more effective than conventional TMZ monotherapy.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that ABX has the potential to enhance TMZ treatment sensitivity in GBM, which provides a promising therapeutic strategy for GBM patients.
TMEM147 aggravates the progression of HCC by modulating cholesterol homeostasis, suppressing ferroptosis, and promoting the M2 polarization of tumor-associated macrophages
Authors: Huang Jingjing , Pan Huayang , Sun Jing , Wu Jiaming , Xuan Qiyue , Wang Jinge , Ke Shanjia , Lu Shounan , Li Zihao , Feng Zhigang , Hua Yongliang , Yu Qingan , Yin Bing , Qian Baolin , Zhou Menghua , Xu Yanan , Bai Miaoyu , Zhang Yingmei , Wu Yaohua , Ma Yong , Jiang Hongchi , Dai Wenjie
Published: October 2023

Background

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) regulates critical processes, including lipid synthesis, which are affected by transmembrane proteins localized in the ER membrane. One such protein, transmembrane protein 147 (TMEM147), has recently been implicated for its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumorigenesis; however, the mechanisms remain unclear. We investigated the role of TMEM147 in HCC and the underlying mechanisms.

Methods

TMEM147 expression was examined in human HCC cells and adjacent non-tumorous tissues using quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. In vitro and in vivo studies were conducted to investigate the impact of TMEM147 on the progression of HCC. Proteins interacting with TMEM147 were identified via RNA-seq, immunoprecipitation, and mass spectrometry analyses. Lipidomic analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were employed to determine and analyze cholesterol and 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC) contents. Extensive experimental techniques were used to study ferroptosis in HCC cells. The fatty acid content of macrophages affected by TMEM147 was quantified using ELISA. Macrophage phenotypes were determined using immunofluorescence assay and flow cytometric analysis.

Results

TMEM147 mRNA and protein levels were increased in HCC cells, and the increased TMEM147 expression was associated with a poor survival. TMEM147 promoted tumor cell proliferation and metastases in vitro and in vivo. The protein was found to interact with the key enzyme 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase (DHCR7), which affected cellular cholesterol homeostasis and increased the extracellular levels of 27HC in HCC cells. TMEM147 also promoted the expression of DHCR7 by enhancing the activity of signal transducer and activator of transcription 2. 27HC expression upregulated glutathione peroxidase 4 in HCC, leading to ferroptosis resistance and promotion of HCC proliferation. HCC cell-derived 27HC expression increased the lipid metabolism in macrophages and activated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ signaling, thereby activating M2 macrophage polarization and promoting HCC cell invasion and migration.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that TMEM147 confers ferroptosis resistance and M2 macrophage polarization, which are primarily dependent on the upregulation of cellular cholesterol homeostasis and 27HC secretion, leading to cancer growth and metastasis. These findings suggest that the TMEM147/STAT2/DHCR7/27HC axis in the tumor microenvironment may serve as a promising therapeutic target for HCC.

Graphical Abstract
Trajectories of body mass index in adulthood and risk of subtypes of postmenopausal breast cancer
Authors: Busund Marit , Ursin Giske , Lund Eiliv , Wilsgaard Tom , Rylander Charlotta
Published: October 2023

Background

Body fatness is a dynamic exposure throughout life. To provide more insight into the association between body mass index (BMI) and postmenopausal breast cancer, we aimed to examine the age at onset, duration, intensity, and trajectories of body fatness in adulthood in relation to risk of breast cancer subtypes.

Methods

Based on self-reported anthropometry in the prospective Norwegian Women and Cancer Study, we calculated the age at onset, duration, and intensity of overweight and obesity using linear mixed-effects models. BMI trajectories in adulthood were modeled using group-based trajectory modeling. We used Cox proportional hazards models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between BMI exposures and breast cancer subtypes in 148,866 postmenopausal women.

Results

A total of 7223 incident invasive postmenopausal breast cancer cases occurred during follow-up. Increased overweight duration and age at the onset of overweight or obesity were associated with luminal A-like breast cancer. Significant heterogeneity was observed in the association between age at overweight and overweight duration and the intrinsic-like subtypes (pheterogeneity 0.03). Compared with women who remained at normal weight throughout adulthood, women with a descending BMI trajectory had a reduced risk of luminal A-like breast cancer (HR 0.54, 95% CI 0.33–0.90), whereas women with ascending BMI trajectories were at increased risk (HR 1.09; 95% CI 1.01–1.17 for “Normal-overweight”; HR 1.20; 95% CI 1.07–1.33 for “Normal-obesity”). Overweight duration and weighted cumulative years of overweight and obesity were inversely associated with luminal B-like breast cancer.

Conclusions

In this exploratory analysis, decreasing body fatness from obesity in adulthood was inversely associated with overall, hormone receptor-positive and luminal A-like breast cancer in postmenopausal women. This study highlights the potential health benefits of reducing weight in adulthood and the health risks associated with increasing weight throughout adult life. Moreover, our data provide evidence of intrinsic-like tumor heterogeneity with regard to age at onset and duration of overweight.
Effectiveness and feasibility of a mobile health self-management intervention in rheumatoid arthritis: study protocol for a pragmatic multicentre randomised controlled trial (AEGORA)
Authors: Doumen Michaël , De Meyst Elias , Lefevre Cedric , Pazmino Sofia , Joly Johan , Bertrand Delphine , Devinck Mieke , Westhovens René , Verschueren Patrick
Published: October 2023

Background

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) considerably impacts patients’ lives. Patients’ confidence in their ability to manage this impact, or self-efficacy, can be supported with self-management interventions. One approach is to use mobile health (mHealth) applications, which can additionally provide insight into disease impact by remotely monitoring patient-reported outcomes. However, user engagement with mHealth-apps is variable, and concerns exist that remote monitoring might make patients overly attentive to symptoms.

Methods

App-based Education and GOal setting in RA (AEGORA) is a multicentre, pragmatic randomised controlled trial investigating an mHealth-based self-management intervention to improve self-efficacy and remotely monitor disease impact in patients with RA. The intervention is provided via an adapted version of the application Sidekick (Sidekick Health, Reykjavik, Iceland) and consists of education, goal setting, lifestyle advice, and remote assessment of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Impact of Disease (RAID) questionnaire.

Across two centres, 120 patients will be recruited and randomised (2:1:1) to usual care or intervention group A/B (study app with weekly/monthly prompts to complete the RAID, respectively). Outcomes are assessed at baseline and after 4–6 months. The primary endpoint is a clinically important improvement (≥ 5.5/110) in the Arthritis Self-Efficacy Scale in the combined intervention group compared to usual care. Secondary endpoints are (a) non-inferiority regarding pain catastrophising, as a measure of symptom hypervigilance; (b) superiority regarding the RAID, sleep quality, and physical activity; and (c) participant engagement with the study app. Finally, the relationship between engagement, prompted frequency of RAID questionnaires, and the primary and secondary outcomes will be explored.

Discussion

The AEGORA trial aims to study the effectiveness of mHealth-based, multicomponent self-management support to improve self-efficacy in the context of RA, while providing potentially valuable insights into temporal disease activity dynamics and the feasibility and possible negative effects of remote symptom monitoring in this population.

Trial registration

Clinicaltrials.gov NCT05888181. Retrospectively registered on March 23, 2023. Study inclusion started on March 3, 2023.
Efficacy and tolerability of the Subcutaneous Semaglutide for type 2 Diabetes patients: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Hu Shanshan , Su Xiaorong , Fan Guorong
Published: October 2023

Objectives

To update and assess the efficacy and tolerability of once weekly subcutaneous semaglutide in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Materials and methods

PubMed, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, Clinical trial, Springer, OVID, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang Data and China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP) were searched from inception to January 18, 2023. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing subcutaneous semaglutide with placebo or any other antidiabetic agent in adults with T2D were eligible. The risk ratio (RR) and mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were determined to synthesize the results.

Results

A total of 17 trials enrolling 14,940 T2D patients were included. For efficacy, compared with placebo, semaglutide exhibited beneficial effects on glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) control [MD -0.97%, 95% CI (-1.33, -0.62), I2 = 91%; MD -1.36%, 95% CI (-1.59, -1.13), I2 = 84%, semaglutide 0.5 and 1.0 mg, respectively], body weight reduction, blood pressure control. At the same time, subcutaneous semaglutide 0.5 and 1 mg reduced HbA1c by 0.56% (95% CI 0.32 to 0.80) and 0.63% (95% CI 0.35 to 0.91) compared to other glucose-lowering agents. For tolerability, semaglutide did not increase the incidence of adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs), severe or blood glucose (BG) confirmed hypoglycaemia, acute pancreatitis and diabetic retinopathy compared to placebo or active comparators, but did increase the risk of nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.

Conclusions

Semaglutide has a better effect on glycaemic control and weight loss than other therapies. Nevertheless, semaglutide was associated with increased incidence of gastrointestinal-related disorders. Further large, multicenter randomized controlled clinical trials are still needed to obtain more robust evidence to better guide clinical treatment decisions.
Epidemiology of musculoskeletal injury in military recruits: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Murphy Myles C. , Stannard Joanne , Sutton Vanessa R. , Owen Patrick J. , Park Brendon , Chivers Paola T. , Hart Nicolas H.
Published: October 2023

Background

Injuries are a common occurrence in military recruit training, however due to differences in the capture of training exposure, injury incidence rates are rarely reported. Our aim was to determine the musculoskeletal injury epidemiology of military recruits, including a standardised injury incidence rate.

Methods

Epidemiological systematic review following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Five online databases were searched from database inception to 5th May 2021. Prospective and retrospective studies that reported data on musculoskeletal injuries sustained by military recruits after the year 2000 were included. We reported on the frequency, prevalence and injury incidence rate. Incidence rate per 1000 training days (Exact 95% CI) was calculated using meta-analysis to allow comparisons between studies. Observed heterogeneity (e.g., training duration) precluded pooling of results across countries. The Joanna Briggs Institute Quality Assessment Checklist for Prevalence Studies assessed study quality.

Results

This review identified 41 studies comprising 451,782 recruits. Most studies (n = 26; 63%) reported the number of injured recruits, and the majority of studies (n = 27; 66%) reported the number of injuries to recruits. The prevalence of recruits with medical attention injuries or time-loss injuries was 22.8% and 31.4%, respectively. Meta-analysis revealed the injury incidence rate for recruits with a medical attention injury may be as high as 19.52 injuries per 1000 training days; and time-loss injury may be as high as 3.97 injuries per 1000 training days. Longer recruit training programs were associated with a reduced injury incidence rate (p = 0.003). The overall certainty of the evidence was low per a modified GRADE approach.

Conclusion

This systematic review with meta-analysis highlights a high musculoskeletal injury prevalence and injury incidence rate within military recruits undergoing basic training with minimal improvement observed over the past 20 years. Longer training program, which may decrease the degree of overload experienced by recruit, may reduce injury incidence rates. Unfortunately, reporting standards and reporting consistency remain a barrier to generalisability.

Trial registration

PROSPERO (Registration number: CRD42021251080).
Sex influences the effects of social status on socioemotional behavior and serotonin neurochemistry in rhesus monkeys
Authors: Wakeford Alison , Nye Jonathon A. , Grieb Zachary A. , Voisin Dené A. , Mun Jiyoung , Huhman Kim L. , Albers Elliott , Michopoulos Vasiliki
Published: October 2023

Background

Despite observed sex differences in the prevalence of stress-related psychiatric conditions, most preclinical and translational studies have only included male subjects. Therefore, it has not been possible to effectively assess how sex interacts with other psychosocial risk factors to impact the etiology and maintenance of stress-related psychopathology. One psychosocial factor that interacts with sex to impact risk for stress-related behavioral and physiological deficits is social dominance. The current study was designed to assess sex differences in the effects of social status on socioemotional behavior and serotonin neurochemistry in socially housed rhesus monkeys. We hypothesized that sex and social status interact to influence socioemotional behaviors as well as serotonin 1A receptor binding potential (5HT1AR-BP) in regions of interest (ROIs) implicated in socioemotional behavior.

Methods

Behavioral observations were conducted in gonadally intact adult female (n = 14) and male (n = 13) rhesus monkeys. 5HT1AR-BP was assessed via positron emission tomography using 4-(2ʹ-Methoxyphenyl)-1-[2ʹ-(N-2ʺ-pyridinyl)-p[18F]fluorobenzamido]ethylpiperazine ([18F]MPPF).

Results

Aggression emitted was greater in dominant compared to subordinate animals, regardless of sex. Submission emitted was significantly greater in subordinate versus dominant animals and greater in females than males. Affiliative behaviors emitted were not impacted by sex, status, or their interaction. Anxiety-like behavior emitted was significantly greater in females than in males regardless of social status. Hypothalamic 5HT1AR-BP was significantly greater in females than in males, regardless of social status. 5HT1AR-BP in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus was significantly impacted by a sex by status interaction whereby 5HT1AR-BP in the dentate gyrus was greater in dominant compared to subordinate females but was not different between dominant and subordinate males. There were no effects of sex, status, or their interaction on 5HT1AR-BP in the DRN and in the regions of the PFC studied.

Conclusions

These data have important implications for the treatment of stress-related behavioral health outcomes, as they suggest that sex and social status are important factors to consider in the context of serotonergic drug efficacy.
W2VC: WavLM representation based one-shot voice conversion with gradient reversal distillation and CTC supervision
Authors: Huang Hao , Wang Lin , Yang Jichen , Hu Ying , He Liang
Published: October 2023

Non-parallel data voice conversion (VC) has achieved considerable breakthroughs due to self-supervised pre-trained representation (SSPR) being used in recent years. Features extracted by the pre-trained model are expected to contain more content information. However, in common VC with SSPR, there is no special implementation to remove speaker information in the content representation extraction by SSPR, which prevents further purification of the speaker information from SSPR representation. Moreover, in conventional VC, Mel-spectrogram is often selected as the reconstructed acoustic feature, which is not consistent with the input of the content encoder and results in some information lost. Motivated by the above, we proposed W2VC to settle the issues. W2VC consists of three parts: (1) We reconstruct feature from WavLM representation (WLMR) that is more consistent with the input of content encoder; (2) Connectionist temporal classification (CTC) is used to align content representation and text context from phoneme level, content encoder plus gradient reversal layer (GRL) based speaker classifier are used to remove speaker information in the content representation extraction; (3) WLMR-based HiFi-GAN is trained to convert WLMR to waveform speech. VC experimental results show that GRL can purify well the content information of the self-supervised model. The GRL purification and CTC supervision on the content encoder are complementary in improving the VC performance. Moreover, the synthesized speech using the WLMR retrained vocoder achieves better results in both subjective and objective evaluation. The proposed method is evaluated on the VCTK and CMU databases. It is shown the method achieves 8.901 in objective MCD, 4.45 in speech naturalness, and 3.62 in speaker similarity of subjective MOS score, which is superior to the baseline.
Multidimensional fragmentomic profiling of cell-free DNA released from patient-derived organoids
Authors: Kim Jaeryuk , Hong Seung-Pyo , Lee Seyoon , Lee Woochan , Lee Dakyung , Kim Rokhyun , Park Young Jun , Moon Sungji , Park Kyunghyuk , Cha Bukyoung , Kim Jong-Il
Published: October 2023

Background

Fragmentomics, the investigation of fragmentation patterns of cell-free DNA (cfDNA), has emerged as a promising strategy for the early detection of multiple cancers in the field of liquid biopsy. However, the clinical application of this approach has been hindered by a limited understanding of cfDNA biology. Furthermore, the prevalence of hematopoietic cell-derived cfDNA in plasma complicates the in vivo investigation of tissue-specific cfDNA other than that of hematopoietic origin. While conventional two-dimensional cell lines have contributed to research on cfDNA biology, their limited representation of in vivo tissue contexts underscores the need for more robust models. In this study, we propose three-dimensional organoids as a novel in vitro model for studying cfDNA biology, focusing on multifaceted fragmentomic analyses.

Results

We established nine patient-derived organoid lines from normal lung airway, normal gastric, and gastric cancer tissues. We then extracted cfDNA from the culture medium of these organoids in both proliferative and apoptotic states. Using whole-genome sequencing data from cfDNA, we analyzed various fragmentomic features, including fragment size, footprints, end motifs, and repeat types at the end. The distribution of cfDNA fragment sizes in organoids, especially in apoptosis samples, was similar to that found in plasma, implying occupancy by mononucleosomes. The footprints determined by sequencing depth exhibited distinct patterns depending on fragment sizes, reflecting occupancy by a variety of DNA-binding proteins. Notably, we discovered that short fragments (< 118 bp) were exclusively enriched in the proliferative state and exhibited distinct fragmentomic profiles, characterized by 3 bp palindromic end motifs and specific repeats.

Conclusions

In conclusion, our results highlight the utility of in vitro organoid models as a valuable tool for studying cfDNA biology and its associated fragmentation patterns. This, in turn, will pave the way for further enhancements in noninvasive cancer detection methodologies based on fragmentomics.
La-doped BaSnO3 for electromagnetic shielding transparent conductors
Authors: Jeon Jingyeong , Ha Youngkyoung , MacManus-Driscoll Judith L. , Lee Shinbuhm
Published: October 2023

In this work, we find that La-doped BaSnO3 (BLSO) is shown to be a promising electromagnetic shielding transparent conductor. While films grown on industrially practical optoelectronic MgAl2O4 substrates have higher sheet resistance by three orders of magnitude than in previous reports, we show how to recover the sheet resistance close to the single-crystal level by use of an MgO template layer which enables high quality (001)-oriented BLSO epitaxial film growth on (001) MgAl2O4. There is a positive correlation between crystallinity and conductivity; high crystallinity minimizes scattering of free electrons. By applying this design principle to 5–20% doped films, we find that highly crystalline 5% La-doped BLSO films exhibit low sheet resistance of ~ 8.7 Ω ▯ −1, high visible transmittance of ~ 80%, and high X-band electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of ~ 25.9 dB, thus outperforming transparent conducting oxides films of Sn-doped In2O3 and SrMoO3.

Graphical Abstract
The effect of unilateral chest drainage for transpulmonary pressure during mechanical ventilation
Authors: Hasegawa Takayuki , Iseki Yuzo , Hosono Atsuyuki , Inoue Satoki
Published: October 2023

Introduction

Chest tube drainage is usually performed through an underwater seal at a level of 10–20 cmH2O. Based on the definition of transpulmonary pressure, continuous chest drainage creates continuous negative pressure, decreasing pleural surface pressure and increasing transpulmonary pressure. We investigated how unilateral chest drainage could affect the tidal volume or driving pressure during mandatory mechanical ventilation.

Methods

This study was an experimental study using a lung-thoracic model and anesthesia ventilator. Tidal volume was set to 300 mL with pressure-controlled ventilation or volume-controlled ventilation. Left tidal volume and right tidal volume were measured independently using respirometers with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) levels of 0, 10, and 20 cmH2O. Simultaneously, left negative pressure of the chest drainage was changed to 0, 10, and 20 cmH2O.

Results

In all conditions, a tidal volume of 300 mL was achieved. In both pressure-controlled ventilation and volume-controlled ventilation, the left tidal volume increased with the application of chest drainage at 10 cmH2O when the PEEP level was 0 cmH2O, but left tidal volume decreased with the application of chest drainage at 20 cmH2O. Furthermore, when PEEP was 10 cmH2O, the left tidal volume decreased in proportion to the pressure of thoracic drainage. The right tidal volumes changed inversely with their counterpart left tidal volumes.

Conclusion

Unilateral chest drainage caused unbalanced ventilation of the left and right lungs regardless of pressure-controlled ventilation or volume-controlled ventilation.
Synthesising synergies between CSR and BHR for corporate accountability: an integrated approach
Authors: Tamvada Mallika
Published: October 2023

While an emerging literature considers Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as obligatory, voluntarism has dominated the scholarship and policymaking related to CSR. Almost parallel to this literature, the field of law has conceived and advanced the concept of Business and Human Rights (BHR) for addressing the human rights impacts of corporations. A new wave in the literature is exploring the relationship between these two disparate fields to bridge the corporate accountability gap. Contributing to this emerging debate, this paper develops a new CSR-BHR integrated framework that presents a unified approach towards corporate accountability. The new Framework offers a taxonomy of CSR-BHR strategies that firms can select from to prioritise their CSR-BHR activities for optimising their social contributions. It provides a new foundation for developing consistent policymaking on corporates’ social obligations across the world.
Ballistic armor—a study on the impact of air gun pellets on jean cloth
Authors: Chinmayi B. G. , Kumar Ashwini , Arjun M. S.
Published: October 2023

Background

Ballistics deals with the study of projectile propulsion, flight, and impact in any medium. Different garment materials can have varying effects when it comes to the penetration of pellets into the body. Body armor has been around for a long time. Dhal, a curving strip of rhino hide, was possibly the first armor in India, used for sword fighting or defense against arrows and spears. It gave way to steel armor, which protected the body’s essential organs from spear and arrow strikes.

The current study is primarily concerned with how jeans material, when employed as body armor, contributes to the inquiry. The present study also examines how airgun pellets fired at various ranges affect jeans clothing wrapped around gel blocks.

Results

The study concluded that when fired at varied ranges, there was no significant variation in the diameters of the entry holes on clothing material. The gel block covered with jeans clothing was not found to be more damaged.

Conclusions

The findings also indicate that pellets had larger track lengths regardless of the range from which they were fired.
Impact of Remote Symptom Monitoring With Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes on Hospitalization, Survival, and Cost in Community Oncology Practice: The Texas Two-Step Study
Authors: Patt Debra A. , Patel Amila Meera , Bhardwaj Arun , Hudson Kathryn Elizabeth , Christman Amanda , Amondikar Ninad , Escudier Susan Marie , Townsend Sydney , Books Holly , Basch Ethan
Published: October 2023

PURPOSE

There is raising interest to implement electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) for symptom monitoring to enhance the quality of cancer care. Step 1 of the Texas Two-Step Study demonstrated successful implementation of an ePRO system in >200 sites of service of a large community oncology practice. We now report step 2 of this study which evaluates the impact of ePROs on outcomes among patients enrolled in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Oncology Care Model (OCM) program.

METHODS

This observational study focused on patients with metastatic cancer enrolled in OCM at large community oncology practice located in Texas between July 2020 and December 2020. Patients who completed ≥1 survey via the ePRO tool were included in the study group and were propensity score matched with patients in a control group. Adverse events (AEs; hospitalizations, emergency department visits, deaths) and total cost of care were a priori study outcomes. Mann-Whitney U and chi-square tests compared continuous and categorical variables, respectively, with multivariable logistic regression for adjustment of covariates.

RESULTS

Of 831 patients with metastatic cancer, 458 matched patients (229/group) were identified, with 52% male and a mean age of 74 years. Mean total AEs were lower in the study group compared with control (0.98 v 1.41; P = .007), with decreased hospitalizations (20% v 32.5%; P = .002), emergency visits (38.4% v 42.3%; P > .05), and deaths (11.8% v 16.6%; P > .05). Average number of hospitalizations was lower (0.28 v 0.52; P = .003) with reduced mean duration of hospitalizations (1.9 vs 3.2 d; P = .03). The total cost of care was reduced by an average of $1,146 per member per month.

CONCLUSION

Symptom monitoring with ePROs improved quality and value of cancer care delivery by reducing hospitalizations, emergency visits, and deaths while lowering cost of care in a large oncology practice.
Predictive Risk Score for Postparathyroidectomy Hungry Bone Syndrome in Patients With Secondary Hyperparathyroidism
Authors: Amjad Wajid , Ginzberg Sara P , Passman Jesse E , Heintz Jonathan , Kelz Rachel R , Wachtel Heather
Published: October 2023

Purpose

Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) frequently affects patients with end-stage renal disease. Hungry bone syndrome (HBS) is a common complication among patients who undergo parathyroidectomy for SHPT and may cause prolonged hospitalization or require intensive care. The objective of this study is to develop a scoring system to stratify patients according to their risk of developing HBS.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study was performed using the US Renal Data System (2010-2021). Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were developed and weighted β-coefficients from the multivariable model were used to construct a risk score for the development of HBS. Positive and negative predictive values were assessed.

Results

Of 17 074 patients who underwent parathyroidectomy for SHPT, 19.4% developed HBS. Intensive care unit admission was more common in patients who developed HBS (33.5% vs 24.6%, P < .001). On multivariable logistic regression analysis, younger age, renal osteodystrophy, longer duration of dialysis, longer duration of kidney transplant, and higher Elixhauser score were significantly associated with HBS. A risk score based on these clinical factors was developed, with a total of 6 possible points. Rates of HBS ranged from 8% in patients with 0 points to 44% in patients with 6 points. The risk score had a poor positive predictive value (20.3%) but excellent negative predictive value (89.3%) for HBS.

Conclusion

We developed a weighted risk score that effectively stratifies patients by risk for developing HBS after parathyroidectomy. This tool can be used to counsel patients and to identify patients who may not require postoperative hospitalization.
Denosumab-Induced Rebound Hypercalcemia Treated With Bisphosphonates in a Pediatric Patient
Authors: Gandolfi Anne , Shaaban Sarah
Published: October 2023

Denosumab is a RANK-L inhibitor used off-label as a treatment for a variety of pediatric bone disorders, including aneurysmal bone cysts (ABC). Rebound hypercalcemia is a known side effect after denosumab therapy and is more commonly reported in pediatric patients. Although there are no established treatment guidelines, denosumab-induced rebound hypercalcemia is usually managed with a combination of intravenous fluids, diuretics, corticosteroids, denosumab, and/or bisphosphonates. We present the case of a 10-year-old female patient with history of a right sacral ABC treated with denosumab who presented with recurrent episodes of rebound hypercalcemia beginning 3 months after denosumab cessation. After the third hospitalization for hypercalcemia, which was treated with zoledronic acid, normocalcemia was achieved. This case demonstrates an increasingly recognized side effect of denosumab therapy that occurs mainly in skeletally immature patients and presents a possible approach to initial therapy of rebound hypercalcemia with a long-acting bisphosphonate.
The trainee nursing associates' experience of academic learning: the first 6 months
Authors: Firth Dawn H
Published: October 2023

Background:

The introduction of the nursing associate role has aimed to provide a different route into nursing careers. Education standards have been structured in line with Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) standards for nursing associates for them to meet the proficiency requirement to enter the NMC register ( NMC, 2018c ). However, there are pedagogic challenges due to the inclusive nature of recruitment, which requires only baseline entry qualifications.

Objectives:

The purpose of this research is to investigate the experience that trainee nursing associates (TNAs) have of academic learning within the first six months of their apprenticeship programme and to determine the impact of this experience on their progression.

Design:

A quantitative design was adopted using data collected from two focus groups comprising TNAs who had completed their first two trimesters of academic study. This allowed a phenomenological approach to understand the subjective experiences of the participants within a purposeful sample.

Findings:

Some three key areas that affected learner progression were highlighted in the study: readiness to study; support to study; and transition of trainees to becoming independent learners.

Conclusion:

Investment and preparation by all partners involved in the TNA course are crucial. Readiness for trainees to study needs robust and timely recruitment, and learners would be supported by having basic study skills prior to commencement.
The secrets to a sweeter smile
Authors: Thomas Richard
Published: October 2023

Richard Thomas outlines how to stop demineralisation from spoiling your patients' selfies.
Supporting registered nurses to complete their revalidation in a care home setting
Authors: Ashurst Adrian M
Published: October 2023

Adrian Ashurst discusses how care home managers can support nurses to successfully complete the revalidation process.
The Afterlives of #MeToo: A Roundtable Discussion with Māhealani Ahia, Michelle Cho, Pallavi Guha, Régine Michelle Jean-Charles, Kahala Johnson, and Ever E. Osorio
Authors: LaFleur Greta , Seitler Dana , Ahia Māhealani , Cho Michelle , Guha Pallavi , Jean-Charles Régine Michelle , Johnson Kahala , Osorio Ever E.
Published: October 2023

Abstract: One of the risks of a special issue with US-based editors and with a topic overwhelmingly identified not only with the US but also with affluent white women is that conversations might neglect the expertise of scholars focused on Indigeneity and the majority of the world. The diverse scholars who contribute to this roundtable—while by no means covering every region in which #MeToo activism has taken place—decenter the US in exploring #MeToo discourse, and blend discussions of medium in activism, solidarity, and cultural specificity in relation to their own stories.
Title Wave: Title IX and How Compromised Abortion Rights can Precipitate Increased College Drop-Out Rates
Authors: Hollis Leah P.
Published: October 2023

Abstract: I am pleased to bring this special edition on Title IX and Black women to fruition for the 50th anniversary of Title IX. This legislation has empowered millions of women in sports and cultivated a more in-depth interest for women in the STEM fields. As I reflect on Title IX and other legislation designed to provide equal rights for women, I will also grapple with the new challenge to Title IX, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization lawsuit which led to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade and women’s federally protected reproductive rights in June 2022. Though women have made strides in college sports participation, the threat to reproductive rights will disproportionately compromise low-income college-age women who strive to enhance their social economic class through education.
“A lot of men too indolent for whist—and a story” The Telling Situation in “Youth,” Heart of Darkness , and Lord Jim
Authors: Sellers Annalee
Published: October 2023

ABSTRACT: This essay closely reads the “telling situations” of the Marlow trilogy. These meta-narratives represent a specific type of the storytelling “occasion” (James Phelan’s “narrative as rhetoric”) that is self-conscious. I argue Conrad was ultimately more interested in how we impose the form of a narrative onto a narration of another person’s life-events in an attempt to account for the other’s thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires than in the life-events themselves, hence my focus on meta-narrative and narration. In these meta-narratives, Marlow points to the ways in which his anticipation of his audience’s expectations for his stories (namely that a tale will set them to rest) have shaped their narrative structure. The shift in Marlow’s role as narrator from “Youth” to the subsequent tales is revolutionary: in “Youth,” Marlow’s tale is flawlessly transmitted and received, setting everyone involved at rest; in Heart of Darkness , Marlow refuses to satisfy his audience’s expectations, narrativizing Kurtz, through an unreliable interpretation of his last words, as a tragic hero in order, instead, to set himself at rest; and in Lord Jim , Marlow has transformed into someone who is wary of his own and others’ need to redeem Jim in the form of narrative. Marlow’s function as character-narrator is to make readers constantly aware that when someone—whether implied author, narrator, character, or implied reader—writes the stories of others’ lives, she does so as the result of some underlying motivation and under the pressures of her own and audiences’ expectations and narrative form.
Views from the Deck of a Ship: Weaving Histories in the Brackish Water Zone of the Coromandel Coast, 1650–1800
Authors: Raghu Shweta Kidambi
Published: October 2023

abstract: During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Coromandel Coast of Southeastern India became a world stage for artistic negotiations between local courts and European East India companies. After all, the region was both the endpoint of long-distance oceanic mobilities for European merchants and a site marking the boundaries of local kingdoms and polities. These two different orientations resulted in divergent perspectives on land and sea—what this article terms the “saltwater perspective” and the “ freshwater perspective.” This article discusses the intertwined nature of these two views in shaping the material culture of the region. While the saltwater perspective framed landscape (and seascape) through the lens of economic utility, favoring oceans and coastlines as corridors for mercantile dominance, the latter imagined inland territories and the freshwater rivers that irrigated them as intertwined entities that nurtured each other. By focusing on the differences between the saltwater and freshwater perspectives, this article is able to argue that this region’s negotiated, “brackish” mode of engaging with landscape underlay contemporary textile-making in Coromandel. This intertwined mode of making and viewing also highlights the agency of the landscape, rather than individual or national actors within it, in shaping artistic negotiations in early colonial India.
Partners as Stakeholders in Cultural Property Protection: Bridging the Intrinsic and Instrumental Value of Cultural Heritage
Authors: Bassett Hayden , Harrell Kate , Koropeckyj Damian , Welsh William Andrew , Gunter-Bassett Madeleine
Published: October 2023

abstract: This article responds to the observed division in cultural property protection (CPP) between cultural practitioners preserving heritage for its intrinsic value and those entities conducting historic preservation activities for its instrumental value. In this paper, we propose a model of interdisciplinary engagement with partners on both sides of the intrinsic/instrumental divide. We demonstrate this through three recent lines of effort undertaken by the Cultural Heritage Monitoring Lab and discuss the lessons learned from those projects. In detailing the unique and often divergent priorities and resources of CPP stakeholders across three lines of effort, our objective is to orient readers to the productive partnerships that can exist in the space between intrinsic and instrumental communities of interest in CPP. The authors conclude with a synthesis of five principles for forging effective partnerships that bridge CPP’s intrinsic and instrumental values.
Rhetoric and Medicine: Introduction
Authors: Petit Caroline
Published: October 2023

Abstract: This introduction offers a brief overview of the scholarly landscape on rhetoric and medicine from antiquity to early modern times. It argues that the relationships between rhetoric and medicine offer a field of study quite distinct from the rhetoric of science, and that they can be understood and approached from multiple angles. It then describes the contents of the papers in relation with the argument.
The Rhetoric of Transparency: Telling Knowledge in Ancient Medical and Forensic Texts
Authors: Maltagliati Giulia
Published: October 2023

Abstract: This paper investigates the role of rhetoric within ancient medicine by setting medical writings in dialogue with contemporary forensic texts. Reading across these two genres allows us to capture the shared ways in which early medical and forensic discourse mobilise rhetoric in response to the epistemological limits of medical and forensic practice. Both medical and forensic discourse frame factual and practical knowledge as the remedy to the slippages of words, but at the same time they need words to formulate and validate their tentative knowledge of those very facts. Select readings from the Epidemics illustrate the importance of a rhetorically structured narrative in response to uncertain scenarios. Much like the narrative of forensic texts, I argue, the case-histories of the Epidemics try to shape elusive realities through a rhetorical gesture that confers a precise meaning upon them. Rhetoric, the paper concludes, is not merely an embellishment nor a skill. It is, instead, a medium for the communication of knowledge and the negotiation of its limits, even in texts that at first glance seem, or claim, to be devoid of any rhetorical features.
High-power intracavity single-cycle THz pulse generation using thin lithium niobate
Authors: Wang Yicheng , Vogel Tim , Khalili Mohsen , Mansourzadeh Samira , Hasse Kore , Suntsov Sergiy , Kip Detlef , Saraceno Clara J.
Published: October 2023

Ultrafast laser driven, single-cycle THz pulsed sources hold immense
potential for scientific and industrial applications; however, their
limited average power hinders their widespread application. In
particular, applications where high repetition rates in the multi-MHz
region and beyond are required are more severely affected, due to the
lower pulse energies available for frequency conversion. In this
respect, resonant enhancement both in passive and active resonators is
a well-known technique for boosting the efficiency of nonlinear
frequency conversion; however, this route has remained poorly explored
for the generation of broadband THz pulses due to the inadequacy of
typically employed nonlinear crystals. Here, we demonstrate that using
thin lithium niobate crystals inside multimode diode-pumped
mode-locked thin-disk lasers is a promising platform to circumvent
these difficulties. Using a 50 µm thin lithium niobate plate
intracavity of a compact high-power mode-locked thin-disk laser, we
generate milliwatt-level broadband THz pulses with a spectrum
extending up to 3 THz at 44.8 MHz repetition rate,
driven by 264 W of intracavity average power. This approach
opens the door to efficient high-power single-cycle THz generation
using affordable nonlinear crystals at very high repetition rates,
scalable to kilowatt-level driving power with low cost and
complexity.
Chiral forces in longitudinally invariant dielectric photonic waveguides
Authors: Martinez-Romeu Josep , Diez Iago , Golat Sebastian , Rodríguez-Fortuño Francisco , Martinez Alejandro
Published: October 2023

Optical forces can be chiral when they exhibit opposite signs for the two enantiomeric versions of a chiral molecule or particle. Such forces could be eventually used to separate enantiomers, which could find application in numerous disciplines. Here, we analyze numerically the optical chiral forces arising in the basic element of photonic integrated circuitry: a dielectric waveguide with a rectangular cross-section. Such waveguides are inherently lossless thus generating chiral forces that are invariant in the longitudinal direction and therefore enable enantiomeric separation over long (cm-scale) distances. Assuming Brownian motion in a liquid environment, we first calculate the force strength and time span needed to perform the separation of chiral nanoparticles as a function of the radii. Then, we analyze the chiral forces produced by the fundamental quasi-TE guided mode in a silicon nitride waveguide and show that it can lead to enantiomeric separation via the transverse spin at short wavelengths (405 nm). At longer wavelengths (1310 nm), the proper combination of degenerate quasi-TE and quasi-TM modes would result in a quasi-circularly polarized mode with intrinsic chirality (helicity), leading to chiral gradient forces that also enable the enantiomeric separation of smaller nanoparticles. We report particle tracking simulations where the optical force field produced by a quasi-TE and a quasi-circular mode proved to separate enantiomers under a time span of two seconds. Our results suggest the viability of enantiomeric separation using simple photonic integrated circuits, though different wavelength windows should be selected according to the nanoparticle size.
Face recognition of remote monitoring under the Ipv6 protocol technology of Internet of Things architecture
Authors: Fu Bo
Published: October 2023

With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) era, the application of intelligent devices in the network is becoming more and more extensive, and the monitoring technology is gradually developing towards the direction of intelligence and digitization. As a hot topic in the field of computer vision, face recognition faces problems such as low level of intelligence and long processing time. Therefore, under the technical support of the IoTs, the research uses internet protocol cameras to collect face information, improves the principal component analysis (PCA), poses a PLV algorithm, and then applies it to the face recognition system for remote monitoring. The outcomes demonstrate that in the Olivetti Research Laboratory face database, the accuracy of PLV is relatively stable, and the highest and lowest are 98 and 94%, respectively. In Yale testing, the accuracy of this algorithm is 12% higher than that of PCA algorithm; In the database of Georgia Institute of Technology (GT), the PLV algorithm requires a time range of 0.2–0.3 seconds and has high operational efficiency. In the selected remote monitoring face database, the accuracy of the method is stable at more than 90%, with the highest being 98%, indicating that it can effectively improve the accuracy of face recognition and provide a reference technical means for further optimization of the remote monitoring system.