Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Curr Opin Insect Sci 2020 May 29;41:25-32. Epub 2020 May 29.

Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.

Insects have been influential models in research on color variation, its evolutionary drivers and the mechanistic basis of such variation. More recently, several studies have indicated that insect color is responding to rapid climate change. However, it remains challenging to ascertain drivers of color variation among populations and species, and across space and time, as multiple biotic and abiotic factors can interact and mediate color change. Read More

Curr Opin Genet Dev 2020 Jul 3;64:66-71. Epub 2020 Jul 3.

Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Wellcome-Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. Electronic address:

Major developmental processes such as gastrulation and early embryogenesis rely on a complex network of cell-cell interactions, chromatin remodeling, and transcriptional regulators. This makes it challenging to study early development when using bulk populations of cells. Recent advances in single-cell technologies have allowed researchers to better understand the interactions between different molecular modalities and the heterogeneities within classically defined cell types. Read More

Drug Discov Today 2020 Jul 3. Epub 2020 Jul 3.

Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, PR China; Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, PR China. Electronic address:

As an effective platform to deliver therapeutic drugs into tumors, nanoparticles (NPs) have shown great potential for cancer therapy. However, the tumor microenvironment (TME) contains diverse barriers to the transport of NPs, particularly the dense extracellular matrix (ECM). Thus, engineering the tumor ECM is a promising way to improve drug delivery by degrading existing ECM and/or blocking ECM synthesis. Read More

Drug Discov Today 2020 Jul 3. Epub 2020 Jul 3.

Department of Pharmaceutics, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Electronic address:

Polymer-drug conjugates (PDC) have exhibited clinical and commercial success in the field of drug delivery. A polymeric backbone, linker, targeting moiety, and drug constitute the building blocks of PDCs. Current attention is focusing on natural polymeric carriers, in particular the concept of graft copolymers, such as a combination of polymers and polysaccharides, to explore dual benefits such as combined vehicles and targeting moieties. Read More

Clin Immunol 2020 Jul 3:108520. Epub 2020 Jul 3.

Division of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) is a genetically heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by severe T cell lymphopenia and defective T and B cell function. Without prompt diagnosis and early intervention, patients with SCID typically die from infection within the first year of life. Advances in molecular genetics have led to rapid and efficient diagnosis of SCID cases, particularly when paired with newborn screening. Read More

Mol Cell Neurosci 2020 Jul 3:103529. Epub 2020 Jul 3.

Columbia Stem Cell Initiative, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA; Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA; Department of Pharmacology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address:

L-type voltage-gated calcium channels play an essential role in various physiological systems including neuronal excitation and any mutation or dysfunction in the channel has significant impact on human brain function resulting in psychiatric diseases. Particular gain-of-function mutations in CACNA1C encoding Ca1.2 have been associated with Timothy Syndrome, a devastating disease with a multi-organ phenotype. Read More

Resuscitation 2020 Jul 3. Epub 2020 Jul 3.

Medical School, Australian National University, Florey Building 54 Mills Road, Acton, ACT 2601 Australia; Intensive Care Unit, Canberra Hospital, Yamba Dr, Garran, ACT 2605, Australia; Centre for Advances in Epidemiology & IT, Canberra Hospital, Yamba Dr, Garran, ACT 2605, Australia. Electronic address:

Hellenic J Cardiol 2020 Jul 3. Epub 2020 Jul 3.

UCL Institute of cardiovascular science, London, UK; Royal Free Hospital, London , UK.

Despite significant advances in preventive, medical and interventional management, coronary artery disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. We now know that in the majority of acute coronary syndromes, a thrombotic event is triggered either by the rupture or erosion of the so-called high-risk or 'vulnerable' plaque. However, accurately identifying the individual who is at significant risk of acute event remains the holy grail of preventive cardiology. Read More

Acta Trop 2020 Jul 3:105618. Epub 2020 Jul 3.

Department of Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah 26666, United Arab Emirates.

Acanthamoeba spp. are free living amoeba (FLA) which are widely distributed in nature. They are opportunistic parasites and can cause severe infections to the eye, skin and central nervous system. Read More

Clin Chem 2020 Jul;66(7):888-914

Institute of Emerging Health Professions, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.

Background: Cannabinoid analyses generally included, until recently, the primary psychoactive cannabis compound, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and/or its inactive metabolite, 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC, in blood, plasma, and urine. Technological advances revolutionized the analyses of major and minor phytocannabinoids in diverse biological fluids and tissues. An extensive literature search was conducted in PubMed for articles on cannabinoid analyses from 2000 through 2019. Read More

Clin Adv Hematol Oncol 2020 May;18(5):280-288

Department of Solid Tumor Oncology, Levine Cancer Institute of Atrium Health, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is one of the most lethal cancers in oncology. Pancreatic cancer is the third most common cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States. As the years have progressed, the importance of a multidisciplinary and multimodal approach to pancreatic cancer care has been recognized and is now recommended in all major society guidelines. Read More

Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2020 Aug;28(4):235-240

Division of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA.

Purpose Of Review: The purpose of this review is to summarize best practices in facial nerve management for patients with head and neck cancer. In addition, we provide a review of recent literature on novel innovations and techniques in facial reanimation surgery.

Recent Findings: Although recommended when tumor ablation surgery requires facial nerve sacrifice, facial reanimation procedures are not always performed. Read More

Curr Opin Anaesthesiol 2020 Aug;33(4):612-617

Department of Anaesthetics, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, UK.

Purpose Of Review: Internationally there has been increased interest in maternal morbidity; both as a strategy to reduce maternal deaths and also because of the significant impact on a woman's life as a result of suffering from maternal morbidity. The present review will evaluate the current knowledge of, and strategies to reduce maternal morbidity.

Recent Findings: The study of maternal morbidity and how to reduce it has been hampered for many years by the lack of a standard approach to measurement and evaluation. Read More

Curr Opin Anaesthesiol 2020 Aug;33(4):601-607

aDepartment of Anesthesia, National University Hospital, Singapore bDepartment of Anesthesia and Pain Management, Toronto General Hospital, Totonto, Canada.

Purpose Of Review: The number of complex procedures performed in the cardiac catheterization laboratory (CCL) is rapidly increasing. Because of their complexity, they frequently require the assistance of an anesthesiologist. The CCL is primarily designed to facilitate a percutaneous cardiac intervention; therefore, it might be a challenging workplace for an anesthesiologist. Read More

Curr Opin Anaesthesiol 2020 Aug;33(4):554-560

aDirector, Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, St John of God Murdoch Hospital bConsultant Cardiac Anaesthetist and Medical Perfusionist, Department of Anaesthesia, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital cSenior Lecturer, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Purpose Of Review: With an ageing population, mounting pressure on the healthcare dollar, significant advances in medical technology, and now in the context of coronavirus disease 2019, the traditional paradigm in which operative procedures are undertaken is changing. Increasingly, procedures are performed in more distant, isolated and less familiar locations, challenging anaesthesiologists and requiring well developed situational awareness. This review looks at implications for the practitioner and patient safety, outlining considerations and steps involved in translation of systems and processes well established in the operating room to more unfamiliar environments. Read More

Curr Opin Anaesthesiol 2020 Aug;33(4):520-526

aYale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Purpose Of Review: Advances in early diagnosis and treatment of diseases using minimally invasive procedures has led to an increase in the number of cases in locations outside the operating room. This surge created the need for anesthesia services to expand to these areas to provide well tolerated and favorable procedural conditions. The present review describes nonoperating room anesthesia patterns in different parts of the world. Read More

J Vis Exp 2020 Jun 20(160). Epub 2020 Jun 20.

Deep-Sea Nanoscience Research Group, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC).

Advances in spatial resolution and detection sensitivity of scientific instrumentation make it possible to apply small reactors for biological and chemical research. To meet the demand for high-performance microreactors, we developed a femtoliter droplet array (FemDA) device and exemplified its application in massively parallel cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) reactions. Over one million uniform droplets were readily generated within a finger-sized area using a two-step oil-sealing protocol. Read More

J Med Internet Res 2020 Jul 6;22(7):e18723. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Lyra Health, Burlingame, CA, United States.

Background: The past few decades saw considerable advances in research and dissemination of evidence-based psychotherapies, yet available treatment resources are not able to meet the high need for care for individuals suffering from depression or anxiety. Blended care psychotherapy, which combines the strengths of therapist-led and internet interventions, can narrow this gap and be clinically effective and efficient, but has rarely been evaluated outside of controlled research settings.

Objective: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a blended care intervention (video-based cognitive behavior therapy and internet intervention) under real-world conditions. Read More

Br J Radiol 2020 Jul 6:20200321. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Department of Neuroradiology, Ospedale Bellaria, IRCCS Institute of Neurological Sciences of Bologna, Via Altura, 3; 40100 Bolgona, Italy.

Objective: Pituitary macroadenomas (PAs) are usually defined as benign intracranial tumors. However, they may present local aggressive course. High Ki67 labelling index (LI) values have been related to an aggressive tumor behavior. Read More

Adv Healthc Mater 2020 Jul 6:e1901862. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Department of Chemical and Product Safety, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Max-Dohrn-Strasse 8-10, Berlin, 10589, Germany.

Advances in nanomedicine, coupled with novel methods of creating advanced materials at the nanoscale, have opened new perspectives for the development of healthcare and medical products. Special attention must be paid toward safe design approaches for nanomaterial-based products. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) gifted the computational tool for enhancing and improving the simulation and modeling process for nanotoxicology and nanotherapeutics. Read More

Chem Asian J 2020 Jul 6. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

School of Sciences and Humanities, Nazarbayev University, Department of Chemistry, 53 Kabanbay Batyr Avenue, 010000, Nur-Sultan, KAZAKHSTAN.

Catalytic reduction of nitriles is considered as an attractive and atom-economical route to a diversity of synthetically valuable primary amines. Compared to other methods, dihydroboration approach has been developed relatively recently but has already attracted the attention of many research groups due to reasonably mild reaction conditions, selectivity control and the access to N,N-diborylamines, which emerged as powerful reagents for C-N bond forming reactions. Early developments in catalytic dihydroboration of nitriles implied precious metal catalysts along with harsh conditions and prolonged reaction times, whereas recent advances mostly rely on base and main group metal catalytic systems with significantly improved profiles. Read More

Adv Mater 2020 Jul 6:e1905784. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA.

Biomolecular self-assembly is a key process used by life to build functional materials from the "bottom up." In the last few decades, bioengineering and bionanotechnology have borrowed this strategy to design and synthesize numerous biomolecular and hybrid materials with diverse architectures and properties. However, engineering biomolecular self-assembly at solid-liquid interfaces into predesigned architectures lags the progress made in bulk solution both in practice and theory. Read More

Chemistry 2020 Jul 6. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Institute of Advanced materials, CHINA.

The recent progress of charge-transfer complexes (CTCs) to be applied in many fields, such as charge transporting, light emitting, nonlinear optics, photoelectric conversion, and external stimuli response, guarantees them as promising candidates for practical utility in pharmaceuticals, electronics, photonics, luminescence, sensors, molecular electronics and so on. Multi-component CTCs s have been gradually designed and prepared as novel organic active semiconductors with ideal performance and stability compared to single components. In this review, we mainly focus on the recently reported development of various charge-transfer complexes and their various performances including field-effect transistors, light-emitting devices, lasers, sensors, and stimuli-responsive behaviors. Read More

Biochem Soc Trans 2020 Jul 6. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000, China.

Osteoporosis (OP) is a bone metabolic disease, is characterized by degeneration of bone structure and decreased bone mass. It happens in more than 1/3 women and 1/5 men of over than 50 years old, which affects the health and lives of people. The main mechanism of OP is mainly that the dynamic balance between the bone formation and resorption is broken, so that bone resorption is more than bone formation. Read More

Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2020 Jun 29. Epub 2020 Jun 29.

Santa Casa de São Paulo, School of Medical Sciences, Department of Neurology, São Paulo SP, Brazil.

Background: Statin therapy has become one of the most important advances in stroke secondary prevention.

Objective: To provide evidence from real-world data for evaluating detailed associations between secondary prevention of stroke and statin use in Brazil.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study including consecutive patients diagnosed with an ischemic stroke. Read More

J Mater Chem B 2020 Jul 6. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Aragón Materials Science Institute (ICMA), CSIC/University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. and Biomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), Spain.

Tumor-derived extracellular vesicles have emerged as an alternative source of cancer biomarkers in liquid biopsies. Despite their clinical potential, traditional methods for isolation and analysis have hampered their translation into the clinic. The use of nanomaterial-based biosensors can speed up the development of analytical methods for quantifying extracellular vesicles in a specific, highly reproducible, robust, fast and inexpensive way. Read More

Chem Soc Rev 2020 Jul 6. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 335 Science Road, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder and affects more than 10% of the population aged over 65 worldwide. Despite considerable global efforts, AD patients can only be diagnosed after the onset of symptoms based on neuropsychological tests and neuroimaging. Because the changes in the levels of biomarkers associated with Aβ deposits and tau tangles precede the appearance of the first cognitive symptoms, accurate measurements of AD core biomarkers is critical for identifying asymptomatic AD patients and predicting disease progression. Read More

Biomater Sci 2020 Jul 6. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center (ChemBIC), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.

Stimuli-responsive in situ self-assembly of small molecule probes into nanostructures has been promising for the construction of molecular probes for in vivo imaging. In the past few years, a number of intelligent molecular imaging probes with fluorescence, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron electron tomography (PET) or photoacoustic imaging (PA) modality have been developed based on the in situ self-assembly strategy. In this minireview, we summarize the recent advances in the development of different modality imaging probes through controlling in situ self-assembly for in vivo imaging of enzymatic activity. Read More

Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020 Jun 30;17(13). Epub 2020 Jun 30.

Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.

Work-related asthma (WRA) includes heterogeneous conditions, which have in common (i) symptoms and signs compatible with asthma and (ii) a relationship with exposures in the workplace. The types of WRA described in this review are distinguished by their etiology, comprising of work-exacerbated asthma (WEA), irritant-induced asthma (IIA), and immunologic occupational asthma (OA). There have been significant advances in the definition and characterization of the different forms of WRA by international panels of experts. Read More

Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 2020 Jul 4:3489420938820. Epub 2020 Jul 4.

Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Division of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Objectives: Recent technological advances have led to the capability of performing high resolution imaging of the tympanic membrane. Smartphone technologies and applications have provided the opportunity to capture digital images and easily share them. The smartphone otoscope device was developed as a simple system that can convert a smartphone into a digital otoscope. Read More

Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi 2020 Jun;45(12):2817-2826

School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Beijing 100029, China.

Zerumbone(ZER), one of humulane-type sesquiterpenoids, showed its unique advantage against tumor activities. The main underlying mechanisms include inhibiting the growth and proliferation of cancer cells, inducing apoptosis of cancer cells and differentiation of cancer cells, regulating immune function, inhibiting invasion and metastasis of cancer cells, and reversing multidrug resistance of cancer cells. Studies on ZER focusing its cytotoxic or anti-tumor is one of hot topic. Read More

Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi 2020 Jun;45(12):2792-2799

School of Chinese Materia Medica, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University Guangzhou 510006, China Key Laboratory of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Production & Development of Cantonese Medicinal Materials Guangzhou 510006, China.

Cinnamomum cassis is one of the commonly used traditional Chinese medicines in China. Its genuine producing areas distribute in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. As an important edible herb and export variety of China, the quality control and internationalization of quality standards of C. Read More

FEBS J 2020 Jul 6. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey, 34450.

The primary cilium is a microtubule-based structure that protrudes from the cell surface in diverse eukaryotic organisms. It functions as a key signaling center that decodes a variety of mechanical and chemical stimuli and plays fundamental roles in development and homeostasis. Accordingly, structural and functional defects of the primary cilium, which have profound effects on the physiology of multiple organ systems including kidney, retina and central nervous system. Read More

Dev World Bioeth 2020 Jul 6. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

The human uterine transplant (UTx) is being developed as a procedure to alleviate absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI). In light of recent UTx advances in India, I suggest that key ethical concerns would emerge if this procedure were to become established as part of India's liberalised assisted reproduction industry. On evidence-based projections, UTx would be likely to harm vulnerable populations in two key ways. Read More

Biomed Chromatogr 2020 Jul 6:e4941. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Analytical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

A sensitive micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) method is presented to simultaneously quantify Ofloxacin (OFX), Gatifloxacin (GFN), Dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DSP), and Prednisolone acetate (PA). The method has the advances of being rapid, accurate, reproducible, ecologically acceptable and sensitive. The electrophoretic separation utilized 20 mM borate buffer as background electrolyte (BGE) with pH 10. Read More

Br J Pharmacol 2020 Jul 5. Epub 2020 Jul 5.

Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.

Given the high-energy requirements to sustain immune responses and healing processes, it is intriguing that lack of appetite (i.e. anorexia) is a cardinal feature of sickness behaviour. Read More

J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 2020 Jul 5. Epub 2020 Jul 5.

Pathological Diagnosis and Research Center, Affiliated Hospital, Guangdong Medical University, 57# Renmin avenue South, Xiashan, Zhanjiang, 524000, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.

Background: Despite great advances in its early diagnosis and treatment, lung cancer is still an intractable disease and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths and morbidity in the world. The family of Polo-like kinases (PLKs) consists of five serine/threonine kinases, which have been reported to participate in various human diseases. However, the expression and prognostic value of each PLK in human lung cancer have not been fully understood. Read More

Int J Mol Med 2020 Aug 15;46(2):509-520. Epub 2020 Jun 15.

Laboratory of Clinical Virology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection represents an excellent paradigm of precision medicine in modern paediatrics and several clinical trials are currently performed in the prevention and management of RSV infection. A new taxonomic terminology for RSV was recently adopted, while the diagnostic and omics techniques have revealed new modalities in the early identification of RSV infections and for better understanding of the disease pathogenesis. Coordinated clinical and research efforts constitute an important step in limiting RSV global predominance, improving epidemiological surveillance, and advancing neonatal and paediatric care. Read More

Hepatol Commun 2020 Jul 27;4(7):1087-1098. Epub 2020 Apr 27.

Centre for Education and Research on Ageing Concord Repatriation General Hospital ANZAC Research Institute Australian Ageing and Alzheimers Institute Concord Sydney NSW Australia.

This is a meeting report of the 2019 Liver Sinusoid Meeting, 20th International Symposium on Cells of the Hepatic Sinusoid, held in Sydney, Australia, in September 2019. The meeting, which was organized by the International Society for Hepatic Sinusoidal Research, provided an update on the recent advances in the field of hepatic sinusoid cells in relation to cell biology, aging, and liver disease, with particular focus on the molecular and cellular targets involved in hepatic fibrosis, nonalcoholic hepatic steatohepatitis, alcoholic liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, and cirrhosis. In addition, the meeting highlighted the recent advances in regenerative medicine, targeted nanotechnologies, therapeutics, and novel methodologies. Read More

Mov Disord Clin Pract 2020 Jul 27;7(5):516-520. Epub 2020 Apr 27.

Division of Clinical Neurosciences Turku University Hospital Turku Finland.

Background: Advances in the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) and changes in general life expectancy may have improved survival in patients with PD.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate recent trends in PD mortality.

Methods: In total, 1521 patients with PD in local and national registries were followed for 11 years (2006-2016) from diagnosis until exit date or death, and the causes of death were recorded. Read More

Front Cell Dev Biol 2020 17;8:443. Epub 2020 Jun 17.

Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.

Mesencephalic dopaminergic (mDA) neurons derived from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) have proven to be pivotal for disease modeling studies and as a source of transplantable tissue for regenerative therapies in Parkinson's disease (PD). Current differentiation protocols can generate standardized and reproducible cell products of dopaminergic neurons that elicit the characteristic transcriptional profile of ventral midbrain. Nonetheless, dopamine neurons residing in the mesencephalon comprise distinct groups of cells within diffusely defined anatomical boundaries and with distinct functional, electrophysiological, and molecular properties. Read More

Front Chem 2020 18;8:447. Epub 2020 Jun 18.

Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Backbone macrocyclic structures are often found in diverse bioactive peptides and contribute to greater conformational rigidity, peptidase resistance, and potential membrane permeability compared to their linear counterparts. Therefore, such peptide scaffolds are an attractive platform for drug-discovery endeavors. Recent advances in synthetic methods for backbone macrocyclic peptides have enabled the discovery of novel peptide drug candidates against diverse targets. Read More

Neurooncol Pract 2020 Mar 1;7(2):211-217. Epub 2019 Oct 1.

CHU-Bordeaux, Radiotherapy Department, France.

Background: Advances in intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) have led to dramatically reduced planning target volume (PTV) margins. However, tumor growth between planning and treatment may lead to treatment failure. Our purpose was to assess the kinetics of tumor growth before SRS for brain metastases. Read More

J Cancer 2020 8;11(16):4870-4883. Epub 2020 Jun 8.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, 35233, USA.

Cancer is a complex disease that arises from the accumulation of multiple genetic and non-genetic changes. Advances in sequencing technologies have allowed unbiased and global analysis of patient-derived tumor samples and the discovery of genetic and transcriptional changes in key genes and oncogenic pathways. That in turn has facilitated a better understanding of the underlying causes of cancer initiation and progression, resulting in new therapeutic targets. Read More

EFSA J 2019 Jul 8;17(Suppl 1):e170723. Epub 2019 Jul 8.

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Parma Italy.

From 18-21 September 2018, EFSA hosted its third Scientific Conference on Science, Food and Society in Parma, Italy. This paper summarises the overall recommendations on future actions and research priorities of the conference and complements the earlier multi-authored papers in this issue. The conference started and closed with the plenary sessions 'where science meets society: putting risk assessment in context' and 'staying relevant in a changing world', respectively. Read More

EFSA J 2019 Jul 8;17(Suppl 1):e170712. Epub 2019 Jul 8.

Formerly World Health Organisation Geneva CH.

The current/traditional human health risk assessment paradigm is challenged by recent scientific and technical advances, and ethical demands. The current approach is considered too resource intensive, is not always reliable, can raise issues of reproducibility, is mostly animal based and does not necessarily provide an understanding of the underlying mechanisms of toxicity. From an ethical and scientific viewpoint, a paradigm shift is required to deliver testing strategies that enable reliable, animal-free hazard and risk assessments, which are based on a mechanistic understanding of chemical toxicity and make use of exposure science and epidemiological data. Read More

Front Immunol 2020 17;11:1109. Epub 2020 Jun 17.

Department of Hematology and Oncology, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies have demonstrated remarkable efficacy for the treatment of hematological malignancies. However, in patients with solid tumors, objective responses to CAR-T cell therapy remain sporadic and transient. A major obstacle for CAR-T cells is the intrinsic ability of tumors to evade immune responses. Read More

Int J Med Sci 2020 1;17(10):1385-1392. Epub 2020 Jun 1.

Department of Ophthalmology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, No. 71 of Xinmin St., Changchun, Jilin Province, 130021, China.

Dry Eye Disease (DED) is a common ocular condition that needs prompt diagnosis and careful treatment interventions. If left untreated, it can lead to numerous sight-threatening complications, including ulceration of the cornea, blepharitis, alterations of the tear film, conjunctivitis, and in severe cases, may lead to scarring, thinning, and even perforation of the cornea. Intense pulsed light (IPL) is a non-laser high-intensity light source that has shown to play a valuable role in dry eye disease. Read More

Ann Gastroenterol 2020 Jul-Aug;33(4):338-347. Epub 2020 May 25.

Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany (Thomas Thomaidis, Visvakanth Sivanathan, Markus Moehler).

Biliary obstruction is common in pancreatobiliary malignancies and has a negative impact on the patient's quality of life, postoperative complications, and survival rates. Particularly in the last decade, there has been enormous progress regarding the diagnostic and therapeutic options in patients with malignant biliary obstruction. Endoscopy has given a new insight in this direction and novel techniques have been developed for the better characterization and treatment of malignant strictures. Read More

Rinsho Ketsueki 2020 ;61(6):657-664

Kyoto University, Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics.

Recent advances in genomic analysis technology have revolutionized precision medicine, especially with respect to the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of pediatric cancers. Pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common pediatric cancer; genetic abnormalities associated with ALL are useful for the diagnosis and risk stratification in patients with ALL. Thus, genomic medicine (clinical sequencing) in pediatric ALL at diagnosis would help in the improvement of prognostic prediction and risk stratification. Read More