Novel and simple patterning process of quantum dots via transfer printing for active matrix qd-led

© 2020 SID. The next generation of a self-emitting display requires precise and stable patterning techniques to shape Red, Green, and Blue pixels using quantum dots. In this study, we propose the novel and simple transfer printing process for the active matrix QD-LEDs

High-throughput identification of genotype-specific cancer vulnerabilities in mixtures of barcoded tumor cell lines.

Hundreds of genetically characterized cell lines are available for the discovery of genotype-specific cancer vulnerabilities. However, screening large numbers of compounds against large numbers of cell lines is currently impractical, and such experiments are often difficult to control. Here we report a method called PRISM that allows pooled screening of mixtures of cancer cell lines by labeling each cell line with 24-nucleotide barcodes. PRISM revealed the expected patterns of cell killing seen in conventional (unpooled) assays. In a screen of 102 cell lines across 8,400 compounds, PRISM led to the identification of BRD-7880 as a potent and highly specific inhibitor of aurora kinases B and C. Cell line pools also efficiently formed tumors as xenografts, and PRISM recapitulated the expected pattern of erlotinib sensitivity in vivo

Poor birth weight recovery among low birth weight/preterm infants following hospital discharge in Kampala, Uganda

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Healthy infants typically regain their birth weight by 21 days of age; however, failure to do so may be due to medical, nutritional or environmental factors. Globally, the incidence of low birth weight deliveries is high, but few studies have assessed the postnatal weight changes in this category of infants, especially in Africa. The aim was to determine what proportion of LBW infants had not regained their birth weight by 21 days of age after discharge from the Special Care Unit of Mulago hospital, Kampala.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross sectional study was conducted assessing weight recovery of 235 LBW infants attending the Kangaroo Clinic in the Special Care Unit of Mulago Hospital between January and April 2010. Infants aged 21 days with a documented birth weight and whose mothers gave consent to participate were included in the study. Baseline information was collected on demographic characteristics, history on pregnancy, delivery and postnatal outcome through interviews. Pertinent infant information like gestation age, diagnosis and management was obtained from the medical records and summarized in the case report forms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 235 LBW infants, 113 (48.1%) had not regained their birth weight by 21 days. Duration of hospitalization for more than 7 days (AOR: 4.2; 95% CI: 2.3 - 7.6; p value < 0.001) and initiation of the first feed after 48 hours (AOR: 1.9; 95% CI 1.1 - 3.4 p value 0.034) were independently associated with failure to regain birth weight. Maternal factors and the infant's physical examination findings were not significantly associated with failure to regain birth weight by 21 days of age.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Failure to regain birth weight among LBW infants by 21 days of age is a common problem in Mulago Hospital occurring in almost half of the neonates attending the Kangaroo clinic. Currently, the burden of morbidity in this group of high-risk infants is undetected and unaddressed in many developing countries. Measures for consideration to improve care of these infants would include; discharge after regaining birth weight and use of total parenteral nutrition. However, due to the pressure of space, keeping the baby and mother is not feasible at the moment hence the need for a strong community system to boost care of the infant. Close networking with support groups within the child's environment could help alleviate this problem.</p

Lipidomic analysis of variation in response to simvastatin in the Cholesterol and Pharmacogenetics Study

Statins are commonly used for reducing cardiovascular disease risk but therapeutic benefit and reductions in levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) vary among individuals. Other effects, including reductions in C-reactive protein (CRP), also contribute to treatment response. Metabolomics provides powerful tools to map pathways implicated in variation in response to statin treatment. This could lead to mechanistic hypotheses that provide insight into the underlying basis for individual variation in drug response. Using a targeted lipidomics platform, we defined lipid changes in blood samples from the upper and lower tails of the LDL-C response distribution in the Cholesterol and Pharmacogenetics study. Metabolic changes in responders are more comprehensive than those seen in non-responders. Baseline cholesterol ester and phospholipid metabolites correlated with LDL-C response to treatment. CRP response to therapy correlated with baseline plasmalogens, lipids involved in inflammation. There was no overlap of lipids whose changes correlated with LDL-C or CRP responses to simvastatin suggesting that distinct metabolic pathways govern statin effects on these two biomarkers. Metabolic signatures could provide insights about variability in response and mechanisms of action of statins

Ischaemic strokes in patients with pulmonary arteriovenous malformations and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia: associations with iron deficiency and platelets.

<div><p>Background</p><p>Pulmonary first pass filtration of particles marginally exceeding ∼7 µm (the size of a red blood cell) is used routinely in diagnostics, and allows cellular aggregates forming or entering the circulation in the preceding cardiac cycle to lodge safely in pulmonary capillaries/arterioles. Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations compromise capillary bed filtration, and are commonly associated with ischaemic stroke. Cohorts with CT-scan evident malformations associated with the highest contrast echocardiographic shunt grades are known to be at higher stroke risk. Our goal was to identify within this broad grouping, which patients were at higher risk of stroke.</p><p>Methodology</p><p>497 consecutive patients with CT-proven pulmonary arteriovenous malformations due to hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia were studied. Relationships with radiologically-confirmed clinical ischaemic stroke were examined using logistic regression, receiver operating characteristic analyses, and platelet studies.</p><p>Principal Findings</p><p>Sixty-one individuals (12.3%) had acute, non-iatrogenic ischaemic clinical strokes at a median age of 52 (IQR 41–63) years. In crude and age-adjusted logistic regression, stroke risk was associated not with venous thromboemboli or conventional neurovascular risk factors, but with low serum iron (adjusted odds ratio 0.96 [95% confidence intervals 0.92, 1.00]), and more weakly with low oxygen saturations reflecting a larger right-to-left shunt (adjusted OR 0.96 [0.92, 1.01]). For the same pulmonary arteriovenous malformations, the stroke risk would approximately double with serum iron 6 µmol/L compared to mid-normal range (7–27 µmol/L). Platelet studies confirmed overlooked data that iron deficiency is associated with exuberant platelet aggregation to serotonin (5HT), correcting following iron treatment. By MANOVA, adjusting for participant and 5HT, iron or ferritin explained 14% of the variance in log-transformed aggregation-rate (p = 0.039/p = 0.021).</p><p>Significance</p><p>These data suggest that patients with compromised pulmonary capillary filtration due to pulmonary arteriovenous malformations are at increased risk of ischaemic stroke if they are iron deficient, and that mechanisms are likely to include enhanced aggregation of circulating platelets.</p></div

Weekly full-dose gemcitabine and single-dose cisplatin with concurrent radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and the toxicity of a full dose of gemcitabine and a single dose of cisplatin with concurrent radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Forty-one patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer were enrolled. Patients received gemcitabine (1000 mg m−2 on days 1, 8, 15, 29, and 36) and cisplatin (70 mg m−2 on days 1 and 29) with concurrent radiotherapy (45 Gy in 25 fractions). Treatment was completed in 38 out of 41 patients (92.7%). The overall response rate was 24.4% (two complete and eight partial). Six patients (14.6%) underwent definite pancreatic resection and four had negative surgical margins. The intention of the treatment analysis showed that the median survival time and median time to tumour progression were 16.7 and 8.9 months. The 1- and 2-year survival rates were 63.3 and 27.9%, respectively. Overall survival was significantly longer in the low baseline CA19-9 group and therapeutic responders. Toxicities were tolerable and successfully managed by conservative treatments. The therapeutic scheme of a weekly full dose of gemcitabine and a single dose of cisplatin combined with external radiation is effective and might prolong the survival of patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer

Genome wide single cell analysis of chemotherapy resistant metastatic cells in a case of gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Metastatic progression due to development or enrichment of therapy-resistant tumor cells is eventually lethal. Molecular characterization of such chemotherapy resistant tumor cell clones may identify markers responsible for malignant progression and potential targets for new treatment. Here, in a case of stage IV adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction, we report the successful genome wide analysis using array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) of DNA from only fourteen tumor cells using a bead-based single cell selection method from a bone metastasis progressing during chemotherapy.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>In a case of metastatic adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction, the progression of bone metastasis was observed during a chemotherapy regimen of epirubicin, oxaliplatin and capecitabine, whereas lung-, liver and lymph node metastases as well as the primary tumor were regressing. A bone marrow aspirate sampled at the site of progressing metastasis in the right iliac bone was performed, and single cell molecular analysis using array-CGH of Epithelial Specific Antigen (ESA)-positive metastatic cells, and revealed two distinct regions of amplification, 12p12.1 and 17q12-q21.2 amplicons, containing the KRAS (12p) and ERBB2 (HER2/NEU) (17q) oncogenes. Further intrapatient tumor heterogeneity of these highlighted gene copy number changes was analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in all available primary and metastatic tumor biopsies, and ErbB2 protein expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry.</p> <p>ERBB2 was heterogeneously amplified by FISH analysis in the primary tumor, as well as liver and bone metastasis, but homogenously amplified in biopsy specimens from a progressing bone metastasis after three initial cycles of chemotherapy, indicating a possible enrichment of erbB2 positive tumor cells in the progressing bone marrow metastasis during chemotherapy. A similar amplification profile was detected for wild-type KRAS, although more heterogeneously expressed in the bone metastasis progressing on chemotherapy. Correspondingly, the erbB2 protein was found heterogeneously expressed by immunohistochemical staining of the primary tumor of the gastroesophageal junction, while negative in liver and bone metastases, but after three initial cycles of palliative chemotherapy with epirubicin, oxaliplatin and capecetabine, the representative bone metastasis stained strongly positive for erbB2.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Global analysis of genetic aberrations, as illustrated by performing array-CGH analysis on genomic DNA from only a few selected tumor cells of interest sampled from a progressing bone metastasis, can identify relevant therapeutic targets and genetic aberrations involved in malignant progression, thus emphasizing the importance and feasibility of this powerful tool on the road to more personalized cancer therapies in the future.</p

Cell phone-supported cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety disorders: a protocol for effectiveness studies in frontline settings

The resulting protocol (NCT01205191 at clinicaltrials.gov) for use in frontline clinical practice in which effectiveness, adherence, and the role of the therapists are analyzed, provides evidence for what are truly valuable cell phone-supported CBT treatments and guidance for the broader introduction of CBT in health services.Original Publication:Joakim Ekberg, Toomas Timpka, Magnus Bång, Anders Fröberg, Karin Halje and Henrik Eriksson, Cell phone-supported cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety disorders: a protocol for effectiveness studies in frontline settings., 2011, BMC medical research methodology, (11), 3.http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-11-3Copyright: BioMed Centralhttp://www.biomedcentral.com