Publications by authors named "Benjamin Tran"

Despite the major roles of choroid plexus epithelial cells (CPECs) in brain homeostasis and repair, their developmental lineage and diversity remain undefined. In simplified differentiations from human pluripotent stem cells, derived CPECs (dCPECs) display canonical properties and dynamic motile multiciliated phenotypes that interact with Aβ uptake. Single dCPEC transcriptomes over time correlate well with human organoid and fetal CPECs, while pseudotemporal and cell cycle analyses highlight the direct CPEC origin from neuroepithelial cells.

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Background: The current noninvasive prognostic evaluation methods for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which are largely reliant on radiographic imaging features and serum biomarkers such as alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), have limited effectiveness in discriminating patient outcomes. Identification of new prognostic biomarkers is a critical unmet need to improve treatment decision-making. Epigenetic changes in cell-free DNA (cfDNA) have shown promise in early cancer diagnosis and prognosis.

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Objectives: Graduate students face numerous demands, high stress levels, and associated challenges to intra- and inter-personal relationships. Mindfulness may help to ease such challenging experiences. The Mindfulness Ambassador Program (MAP) is a promising group-based program that has not yet been studied among graduate students.

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The integration of large language models (LLMs) into clinical diagnostics has the potential to transform doctor-patient interactions. However, the readiness of these models for real-world clinical application remains inadequately tested. This paper introduces the Conversational Reasoning Assessment Framework for Testing in Medicine (CRAFT-MD) approach for evaluating clinical LLMs.

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Despite the major roles of choroid plexus epithelial cells (CPECs) in brain homeostasis and repair, their developmental lineage and diversity remain undefined. In simplified differentiations from human pluripotent stem cells, derived CPECs (dCPECs) displayed canonical properties and dynamic multiciliated phenotypes that interacted with Aβ uptake. Single dCPEC transcriptomes over time correlated well with human organoid and fetal CPECs, while pseudotemporal and cell cycle analyses highlighted the direct CPEC origin from neuroepithelial cells.

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Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common malignancy after skin cancer in men in Australia. Its management varies according to tumour stage. Due to the significant dependence on androgen receptor signalling, agents that interfere with this pathway (most commonly medical castration in the form of androgen deprivation therapy [ADT]) are the mainstay treatment of advanced disease.

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Background: Non-OR Anesthesia (NORA) is rapidly becoming standard in many high-volume institutions and efficiency in these spaces has yet to be optimized. On-time first start percentage has been suggested to correlate with more efficient flow, and this correlation is established within the surgical space.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of timetable targets on first case on-time first start percentage within a NORA setting.

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Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is often used as upfront treatment for brain metastases. Progression or radionecrosis after SRS is common and can prompt resection. However, postoperative management strategies after resection for SRS failure vary widely, and no standard practice has been established.

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This case report, written with the assistance of ChatGPT, describes a rare manifestation of ovarian serous carcinoma that metastasized to the skin. A 30-year-old female with a history of stage IV low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma presented for evaluation of a painful nodule on her back. Physical examination demonstrated a round, firm, mobile subcutaneous nodule on the left upper back.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study focuses on predicting the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence after liver transplantation (LT) using data from over 4,900 patients, emphasizing the need for personalized assessment due to high recurrence rates.
  • - Researchers developed the RELAPSE score, which utilizes clinicopathological and radiological factors, validated through advanced statistical and machine learning methods, to enhance the accuracy of recurrence predictions in HCC patients post-LT.
  • - Key independent predictors of HCC recurrence identified include alpha-fetoprotein levels, tumor size, and vascular invasion, with a 5-year recurrence rate of 12.5% and a more robust predictive model achieved through machine learning techniques.
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Purpose: In the phase 3 CheckMate 9ER trial, intravenous nivolumab (240 mg every 2 weeks) plus oral cabozantinib (40 mg/day) improved progression-free survival (PFS) versus sunitinib as first-line therapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). To support cabozantinib dosing with the combination, this exposure-response analysis characterized the relationship of cabozantinib exposure with clinical endpoints.

Methods: Dose modification was allowed with cabozantinib (holds and reductions) to manage adverse events (AEs).

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Article Synopsis
  • * The researchers developed a method called cfMethyl-Seq, which allows for more efficient sequencing of methylation patterns in cell-free DNA, providing cost-effective analysis.
  • * When tested on a large cohort of cancer patients, the method demonstrated high specificity and decent sensitivity for detecting various cancer stages, providing accurate tissue origin identification as well.
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Article Synopsis
  • Current methods for detecting early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are not very effective, but extracellular vesicles (EVs) show potential as biomarkers for early detection.
  • This study developed an EV-based assay to identify specific surface protein markers and create an HCC EV ECG score, which helped differentiate early-stage HCC from cirrhosis in participants.
  • The assay demonstrated high accuracy in testing, with a receiver operating characteristic area of 0.95 in the training cohort and 0.93 in the validation cohort, suggesting it could improve current HCC surveillance methods and patient outcomes.*
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Article Synopsis
  • Circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) contain valuable molecular information for detecting gene changes in cancer patients, providing a noninvasive way to assess disease status and treatment response.
  • A new technology called "Click Beads" enables efficient isolation of EVs, making it easier to perform mRNA assays and analyze molecular data using advanced techniques like reverse transcription digital polymerase chain reaction (RT-dPCR).
  • The effectiveness of Click Beads is demonstrated by accurately detecting gene alterations, such as EWS rearrangements and KRAS mutations, in EVs from cancer patients, which can help track treatment efficacy and disease progression.
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Numerous studies in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have proposed tissue-based gene signatures for individualized prognostic assessments. Here, we develop a novel circulating tumor cell (CTC)-based transcriptomic profiling assay to translate tissue-based messenger RNA (mRNA) signatures into a liquid biopsy setting for noninvasive HCC prognostication. The HCC-CTC mRNA scoring system combines the NanoVelcro CTC Assay for enriching HCC CTCs and the NanoString nCounter platform for quantifying the HCC-CTC Risk Score (RS) panel in enriched HCC CTCs.

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Objective: To investigate the optimal timing of direct acting antiviral (DAA) administration in patients with hepatitis C-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing liver transplantation (LT).

Summary Of Background Data: In patients with hepatitis C (HCV) associated HCC undergoing LT, the optimal timing of direct-acting antivirals (DAA) administration to achieve sustained virologic response (SVR) and improved oncologic outcomes remains a topic of much debate.

Methods: The United States HCC LT Consortium (2015-2019) was reviewed for patients with primary HCV-associated HCC who underwent LT and received DAA therapy at 20 institutions.

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Transcriptomic profiling of tumor tissues introduces a large database, which has led to improvements in the ability of cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. However, performing tumor transcriptomic profiling in the clinical setting is very challenging since the procurement of tumor tissues is inherently limited by invasive sampling procedures. Here, we demonstrated the feasibility of purifying hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from clinical patient samples with improved molecular integrity using Click Chips in conjunction with a multimarker antibody cocktail.

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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignancy and one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Despite the improvements in surveillance and treatment, the prognosis of HCC remains poor. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a heterogeneous group of phospholipid bilayer-enclosed particles circulating in the bloodstream and mediating intercellular communication.

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Background: There is an increasing number of over-the-counter topical products that are said to prevent pathologic scar formation and improve scar cosmesis. However, robust clinical data are lacking to substantiate these claims and to guide selection of topical products.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of topical scar management products, including silicone gel, Allium cepa onion extract, vitamin E, trolamine, and microporous tape.

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Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain tumor with a propensity for intracranial recurrence. We hypothesized that tumors can be visualized with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) before they are detected on anatomical magnetic resonance (MR) images. We retrospectively analyzed serial MR images from 30 patients, including the DTI and T1-weighted images at recurrence, at 2 months and 4 months before recurrence, and at 1 month after radiation therapy.

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