The critical role of gut microbiota in human health and disease has been increasingly illustrated over the past decades, with a significant amount of research demonstrating an unmet need for self-monitor of the fecal microbial composition in an easily-accessible, rapid-time manner. In this study, we employed a tool for Smartphone Microbiome Evaluation and Analysis in Rapid-time (SMEAR) that uses images of fecal smears to predict microbial compositional characteristics in a human cohort. A subset of human fecal samples was randomly retrieved from the second wave of data collection in the Healthy Life in an Urban Setting (HELIUS) study cohort.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most lethal gynecologic cancer, often diagnosed at an advanced stage due to nonspecific symptoms and lack of effective screening. Over 90% of all ovarian cancer cases are epithelial in origin, which is thought to originate from the fallopian tubes in approximately 70% of cases. Opportunistic salpingectomy (OS), the additional removal of fallopian tubes during abdominal surgery, has emerged as a preventive strategy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The gut microbiome plays a crucial role in health and disease, influencing digestion, metabolism, and immune function. Traditional microbiome analysis methods are often expensive, time-consuming, and require specialized expertise, limiting their practical application in clinical settings. Evolving artificial intelligence (AI) technologies present opportunities for developing alternative methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: A patient decision aid on opportunistic salpingectomy and salpingectomy as a sterilization method has been developed to provide uniform counseling and reduce practice variation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of the patient decision aid in daily clinical practice to ensure its effectiveness and usability, as well as its influence on the decision-making process and the decision of opportunistic salpingectomy.
Material And Methods: As part of the STOPOVCA-implementation study, we conducted a multicenter observational study in 16 hospitals between July 2020 and February 2024.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the association between pre-operative progesterone receptor (PR) and p53 expression and prognosis in pre-operative grade 2 endometrioid endometrial carcinoma compared with grade 1 and grade 3 carcinomas.
Methods: Three European endometrial carcinoma cohort studies were included. Patients with pre-operative grade 2 endometrioid carcinoma and known pre-operative PR and p53 status were included (n = 400), as were patients with pre-operative grade 1 (n = 602) or grade 3 (n = 148) endometrioid carcinomas.
Human and veterinary healthcare professionals are interested in utilizing the gut-microbiome as a target to diagnose, treat, and prevent (gastrointestinal) diseases. However, the current microbiome analysis techniques are expensive and time-consuming, and data interpretation requires the expertise of specialists. Therefore, we explored the development and application of artificial intelligence technology for rapid, affordable, and reliable microbiome profiling in rhesus macaques ().
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The modern oncology drug development landscape has shifted away from traditional cytotoxic chemotherapies. Following their initial approvals, many oncology drugs have been approved in subsequent indications either as monotherapy or in combination to benefit a broader patient population. To date, dose selection strategies for subsequent indications have not been systematically reviewed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTargeted covalent inhibitors (TCIs) are an emerging class of anticancer therapeutics. TCIs are designed to selectively engage their targeted proteins via covalent warheads. From the drug development standpoint, the covalent inhibition mechanism is anticipated to elicit the following theoretical benefits: (i) an extended duration of therapeutic action that is determined by the target protein turnover rate and not necessarily by drug half-life, (ii) a lower therapeutic dose owing to greater pharmacological potency, (iii) lower risk of off-target binding and associated adverse events, and (iv) reduced drug-drug interaction (DDI) liability due to high selectivity and low dose.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The optimal dosing strategy for rifampicin in treating drug-susceptible tuberculosis (TB) is still highly debated. In the phase 3 clinical trial Study 31/ACTG 5349 (NCT02410772), all participants in the control regimen arm received 600 mg rifampicin daily as a flat dose. Here, we evaluated relationships between rifampicin exposure and efficacy and safety outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: To decrease the risk of complications from ventilator-associated pneumonia, it is essential to implement preventative measures in all ICU patients. Since 2018, with the help of Japanese experts, we have applied a ventilator-associated pneumonia care bundle with 10 basic standards in patient care and monitoring. Therefore, we conducted a study to evaluate the results of applying 10 solutions to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia over 24 months.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBotulinum toxin-A (BTX) administration into muscle is an established treatment for conditions with excessive muscle contraction. However, botulinum therapy has short-term effectiveness, and high-dose injection of BTX could induce neutralizing antibodies against BTX. Therefore, prolonging its effects could be beneficial in a clinical situation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF2-Methylquinazolin-4(3)-one was prepared by the reaction of anthranilic acid, acetic anhydride, and ammonium acetate. The reaction of 2-methylquinazolin-4(3)-one with -aryl-2-chloroacetamides in acetone in the presence of potassium carbonate gave nine -aryl-2-(2-methyl-4-oxoquinazolin-3(4)-yl)acetamide compounds. The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of their IR, H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), C NMR, and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) spectral data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Opportunistic salpingectomy (OS) refers to additional removal of the fallopian tubes during abdominal surgery performed for another medical indication, as prevention for ovarian cancer. As OS has been inconsistently implemented, its clinical practice varies worldwide. To reduce this variation, insight is required into current clinical practice and its determinants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSponges are prolific producers of specialized metabolites with unique structural scaffolds. Their chemical diversity has always inspired natural product chemists working in drug discovery. As part of their metabolic filter-feeding activities, sponges are known to release molecules, possibly including their specialized metabolites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMosquitoes, in addition to being a biting nuisance, are vectors of several pathogenic viruses and parasites. As a continuation of our work identifying abundant and/or invasive plant species in Vietnam for use as ecologically friendly pesticidal agents, we obtained the essential oils of , , , , and ; analyzed the essential oils using gas chromatographic techniques; and screened the essential oils for mosquito larvicidal activity against and . The most active larvicidal essential oils were , which was rich in thymohydroquinone dimethyl ether (29.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To evaluate arteriovenous malformations (AVM) with swept-source (SS) optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography (OCTA) in iris racemose hemangioma and compare it with traditional intravenous iris fluorescein angiography (IVFA).
Methods: A cross-sectional observational clinical study was conducted on patients with iris racemose hemangioma with the ZEISS PLEX Elite 9000 SS OCT & OCTA.
Results: Three eyes of three patients were imaged.
Essential oils are promising as environmentally friendly and safe sources of pesticides for human use. Furthermore, they are also of interest as aromatherapeutic agents in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, and inhibition of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) has been evaluated as an important mechanism. The essential oils of some species in the genera , , and of the family Lamiaceae were evaluated for inhibition of electric eel AChE using the Ellman method.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The purpose of this case study series was to present recruitment and data collection strategies used for Asian American ethnic groups by documenting challenges experienced by researchers in the field of aging.
Summary: We compiled four case studies investigating Asian American older adults and/or family caregivers (i.e.
Clin Chem Lab Med
January 2023
The advent of bioresorbable materials to overcome limitations and replace traditional bone-reconstruction titanium-plate systems for bone fixation, thus achieving greater efficiency and safety in medical and dental applications, has ushered in a new era in biomaterial development. Because of its bioactive osteoconductive ability and biocompatibility, the forged composite of uncalcined/unsintered hydroxyapatite and poly L-lactic acid (u-HA/PLLA) has attracted considerable interest from researchers in bone tissue engineering, as well as from clinicians, particularly for applications in maxillofacial reconstructive surgery. Thus, various in vitro studies, in vivo studies, and clinical trials have been conducted to investigate the feasibility and weaknesses of this biomaterial in oral and maxillofacial surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF