Hyer

Antigenic drift is a major driver of viral evolution and a primary reason why influenza vaccines must be reformulated annually. Mismatch between vaccine and circulating viral strains negatively affects vaccine effectiveness and often contributes to higher rates of influenza-related hospitalizations and deaths, particularly in years dominated by A(H3N2). Several countries recommend enhanced influenza vaccines for older adults, who are at the highest risk of severe influenza complications and mortality. The immunogenicity of enhanced vaccines against heterologous A(H3N2) strains has been examined in nine studies to date...

Chronic stress exposure during development can have lasting behavioral consequences that differ in males and females. More specifically, increased depressive behaviors in females, but not males, are observed in both humans and rodent models of chronic stress. Despite these known stress-induced outcomes, the molecular consequences of chronic adolescent stress in the adult brain are less clear. The stress hormone corticosterone activates the glucocorticoid receptor, and activity of the receptor is regulated through interactions with co-chaperones-such as the immunophilin FK506 binding proteins 5 (FKBP5)...

Bacterial infections in the health-care sector and social environments have been linked to the Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, a type of bacteria that has remained an international health risk since the 1960s. From mild colonization to a deadly invasive disease with an elevated mortality rate, the illness can present in many different forms. A fractional-order dynamic model of MRSA infection developed using real data for computational and modeling analysis on the north side of Cyprus is presented in this paper...

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This work concerns the epidemiology of infectious diseases like monkeypox (mpox) in humans and animals. Our models examine transmission scenarios, including transmission dynamics between humans, animals, and both. We approach this using evolutionary game theory, specifically the intervention game-theoretical (IGT) framework, to study how human behavior can mitigate disease transmission without perfect vaccines and treatments. To do this, we use non-pharmaceutical intervention, namely the quarantine policy, which demonstrates the delayed effect of the epidemic...

OBJECTIVES: To examine associations of sociodemographic factors and social limitations with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) from pre- to postdiagnosis in older female cancer survivors. SAMPLE & SETTING: 9,807 women aged 65 years or older with breast or gynecologic cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare Health Outcomes Survey. METHODS & VARIABLES: Physical and mental HRQOL were assessed using the physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) of the Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey...

BACKGROUND: Virtual reality is emerging as an important component of medical education. Although the benefits of virtual reality are apparent, the optimal strategy to orient to or differentiate learners in the virtual space have not been delineated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between demographic variables, social variables, and self-perceived comfort with technology to performance on a standardized non-medical virtual reality experience. METHODS: This observational study was performed at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare in 2022...

In recent years, alcohol addiction has become a major public health concern and a global threat due to its potential negative health and social impacts. Beyond the health consequences, the detrimental consumption of alcohol results in substantial social and economic burdens on both individuals and society as a whole. Therefore, a proper understanding and effective control of the spread of alcohol addictive behavior has become an appealing global issue to be solved. In this study, we develop a new mathematical model of alcohol addiction with treatment class...

The Elekta Unity magnetic resonance (MR) linac is limited to longitudinal couch motion and a sagittal-only laser, which restricts the ability to perform patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) measurements for very lateral targets. This work introduces a simple method to perform PSQA using the Sun Nuclear ArcCheck-MR phantom at left and right lateral positions without additional equipment or in-house construction. The proposed setup places the center of the phantom 1...

Ovarian cancers (OVCAs) and endometrial cancers (EMCAs) with CCNE1-amplification are often resistant to standard of care treatment and represent an unmet clinical need. Previously, synthetic-lethal screening identified loss of the CDK1 regulator, PKMYT1, as synthetically lethal with CCNE1-amplification. We hypothesized that CCNE1-amplification associated replication stress will be more effectively targeted by combining the PKMYT1 inhibitor, lunresertib (RP-6306), with the ATR inhibitor, camonsertib (RP-3500/RG6526)...

BACKGROUND: Solid organ transplant recipients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) have an increased risk of poor outcomes. However, a recent study demonstrated that immunosuppression is not an independent risk factor for these poor outcomes after controlling for primary tumor stage. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether transplant status is an independent risk factor for poor outcomes in CSCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A database of CSCCs treated at an academic center over 10 years was used to perform a retrospective cohort study comparing the risk of poor outcomes (local recurrence, regional and distant metastases, and disease-specific death) in solid organ transplant recipients and controls...

INTRODUCTION: There is an increase in pigmentation that occurs in many tumors following plaque brachytherapy for choroidal melanoma. Correctly distinguishing between increased pigment at the tumor border versus true growth is imperative. We performed a retrospective review of patients treated with I-125 brachytherapy for choroidal melanoma at our institution to study this phenomenon. METHODS: Records were reviewed for all patients undergoing plaque brachytherapy for uveal melanoma for a 5-year period ( N = 195)...

BACKGROUND: Multivisceral resection of retroperitoneal liposarcoma (LPS) is associated with increased morbidity and may not confer a survival benefit compared with tumor-only (TO) resection. We compared both approaches using a novel statistical method called the "win ratio" (WR). METHODS: Patients who underwent resection of LPS from 2004 to 2015 were identified from the National Cancer Database. Multivisceral resection was defined as removal of the primary site in addition to other organs...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has become a key method for diagnosing and staging radiation retinopathy, based mainly on the presence of fluid in the central macula. A robust retinal layer segmentation method is required for identification of the specific layers involved in radiation-induced pathology in individual eyes over time, in order to determine damage driven by radiation injury to the microvessels and to the inner retinal neurons. Here, we utilized OCT, OCT-angiography, visual field testing, and patient-specific dosimetry models to analyze abnormal retinal layer thickening and thinning relative to microvessel density, visual function, radiation dose, and time from radiotherapy in a cross-sectional cohort of uveal melanoma patients treated with 125 I-plaque brachytherapy...

Since there is a clear correlation between poverty and corruption, mathematicians have been actively researching the concept of poverty and corruption in order to develop the optimal strategy of corruption control. This work aims to develop a mathematical model for the dynamics of poverty and corruption. First, we study and analyze the indicators of corruption and poverty rates by applying the linear model along with the Eviews program during the study period. Then, we present a prediction of poverty rates for 2023 and 2024 using the results of the standard problem-free model...

Ribozymes are catalytic RNAs with diverse functions including self-splicing and polymerization. This work aims to discover natural ribozymes that behave as hydrolytic and sequence-specific DNA endonucleases, which could be repurposed as DNA manipulation tools. Focused on bacterial group II-C introns, we found that many systems without intron-encoded protein propagate multiple copies in their resident genomes. These introns, named HYdrolytic Endonucleolytic Ribozymes (HYERs), cleaved RNA, single-stranded DNA, bubbled double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), and plasmids in vitro...

PURPOSE: The purpose of this work was to investigate the use of a segmentation approach that could potentially improve the speed and reproducibility of contouring during magnetic resonance-guided adaptive radiation therapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The segmentation algorithm was based on a hybrid deep neural network and graph optimization approach that also allows rapid user intervention (Deep layered optimal graph image segmentation of multiple objects and surfaces [LOGISMOS] + just enough interaction [JEI])...

Single or multiple polyps are frequently encountered during colonoscopy among children and adolescents and may be indicative of hereditary polyposis syndrome (HPS). The management of children with single or multiple polyps is guided by the number of polyps, their distribution and the histological findings. Children with HPS carry a high risk of complications, including intestinal and extra-intestinal malignancies. The goals of surveillance in pediatric HPS are to treat symptoms, monitor the burden of polyps and prevent short- and long-term complications...

PURPOSE: To assess periocular autologous fat transfer (AFT) survival by assessment of volume change with sequential 3D VECTRA imaging. OBJECTIVE: Little is known about the patterns of graft survival of AFT in the periorbital region, especially in cases involving prior radiotherapy or trauma. The aim of this pilot study was to characterize fat survival following AFT in patients with a broad range of clinical indications, with and without a history of prior radiotherapy, for both periocular and orbital AFT, and in a subgroup of patients with an anophthalmic socket...

BACKGROUND: As the life expectancy of the cystic fibrosis (CF) population is lengthening with modulator therapies, diligent age-appropriate screening and preventive care are increasingly vital for long-term health and wellbeing. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis comparing rates of receiving age- and sex-appropriate preventive services by commercially insured adult people with CF (PwCF) and adults without CF from the general population (GP) via the Truven Health MarketScan database (2012-2018)...