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Gillespie Romero posted an update 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Our objective was to prospectively validate the use of gestational sac (GS), yolk sac (YS) diameter, crown-rump length (CRL), and embryonal heart rate (HR) dimensions to identify early pregnancy loss. This was a prospective cohort study of first trimester pregnancies. GS and YS diameter, CRL, and HR measurements were serially obtained in singleton and twin pregnancies from 6 through 10 weeks’ gestation. Non-parametric tests and logistic regression models were used for comparisons of distributions and testing of associations. A total of 252 patients were included, of which 199 were singleton pregnancies, 51 were twins, and 2 were triplets (304 total fetuses). Fifty-two patients had 61 losses. We built nomograms with the changes of the parameters evaluated in ongoing, as well as in pregnancy loss. In the pregnancies which failed, all the parameters showed significant changes, with different temporal onsets GS and YS were the first to become abnormal, deviating from normality as early as 6 weeks’ gestation (OR 0.01, 95% CI 0.0-0.09, and OR 3.36, 95% CI 1.53-7.34, respectively), followed by changes in HR, and CRL, which became evident at 7 and 8 weeks (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.92-1.0, and OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.48-0.73, respectively). Our observations showed that, after 5 complete weeks’ gestation, a small GS and a large YS reliably predicted pregnancy loss. The YS reliably identified the occurrence of a miscarriage at least 7 days prior its occurrence. CRL and HR became abnormal at a later time in pregnancy and closer to the event. These findings have important implications for patient counseling and care planning, as well as a potential bearing on cost effectiveness within early pregnancy care.An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.Widely regarded as an imminent threat to our oceans, ocean acidification has been documented in all oceanic basins. Projected changes in seawater chemistry will have catastrophic biotic effects due to ocean acidification hindering biogenic carbonate production, which will in turn lead to substantial changes in marine ecosystems. However, previous attempts to quantify the effect of acidification on planktonic calcifying organisms has relied on laboratory based studies with substantial methodological limitations. This has been overcome by comparing historic plankton tows from the seminal HMS Challenger Expedition (1872-1876) with the recent Tara Oceans expedition material (2009-2016). Nano CT-scans of selected equatorial Pacific Ocean planktonic foraminifera, have revealed that all modern specimens had up to 76% thinner shells than their historic counterparts. The “Challenger Revisited” project highlights the potential of historic ocean collections as a tool to investigate ocean acidification since the early Industrial Revolution. Further analyses of such biotic archives will enable researchers to quantify the effects of anthropogenic climate change across the globe.HPV infection renders oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas more radiosensitive, which results in a favorable prognosis for HPV-positive patients treated with radiation alone or with concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy. selleckchem The degree of radiosensitivity in fractionated regimens has not yet been fully explored; therefore, in this study, the radiosensitivity of HPV-negative tumors (FaDu) was compared to that of HPV-positive tumors (2A3) subjected to concurrent cisplatin chemotherapy and fractionated versus isoeffective single-dose tumor irradiation in immunodeficient mice. HPV-positive tumors were approximately 5 times more radiosensitive than HPV-negative tumors, irrespective of the irradiation regimen. In both tumor models, concurrent cisplatin chemotherapy and the fractionated regimen induced significant tumor radiosensitization, with a 3- to 4-fold increase in the tumor growth delay compared to that of single-dose irradiation. Furthermore, the degree of radiosensitization induced by cisplatin chemotherapy concurrent with the fractionated irradiation regimen was much higher in HPV-positive tumors, where a synergistic antitumor effect was observed. Specifically, after combined therapy, a 26% higher survival rate was observed in mice with HPV-positive tumors than in mice with HPV-negative tumors. These data suggest that HPV-positive tumors are more radiosensitive to fractionated regimen than to single-dose irradiation with concurrent cisplatin chemotherapy acting synergistically to irradiation.OBJECTIVE Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is an inflammatory bowel disease of preterm infants marked by an absolute monocyte count (AMC) drop in peripheral blood. Our objective was to determine whether the degree of AMC drop at illness onset correlates with eventual severity of disease. STUDY DESIGN The percentage change in AMC was retrospectively calculated for each of 29 rule-out NEC and 76 NEC cases from baseline to illness onset, and then compared across stages. RESULTS Median AMC changes of +0.5% (p = 0.56) were found in rule-out NEC, compared with -44.5% (p less then 0.0001) in Stage 2 and -81.9% (p less then 0.0001) in Stage 3. An AMC change cutoff of -75% distinguishes Stages 2 and 3. CONCLUSIONS The severity of NEC correlated with the extent of AMC change in a dose-response fashion. Percent AMC change may be a useful marker for identifying NEC at onset and prognosticating disease severity.Treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is still a challenge despite years of researching, especially for those of poor prognosis. Zhang and his team recently proved that FLT3 gene mutation was identified in ~5% of ALL and the mutation spectrum is different from AML. Recently, chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CART) therapy presents great efficacy in treating refractory leukemia. We report a case of a refractory ALL patient with FLT3-ITD mutations and unfavorable karyotypes, who failed to respond to chemotherapy and small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors, successfully treated by CART therapy. FLT3-ITD mutations were downregulated dramatically into 14.1% positive 3 days after the infusion and remained negative until now. MRD has stayed to be negative from the 10th day. This case suggests that CART-cell therapy might be effective in treating FLT3-ITD positive refractory ALL, implying the possibility to overcome the traditional prognosis scoring system for leukemia and providing a new chance for other leukemia patients with inferior prognosis factors.