Placing a self-expandable metallic stent (SEMS) is safe and effective for the palliative treatment of malignant gastroduodenal (GD) strictures. SEMS abutment in the duodenal wall is associated with increased food impaction, resulting in higher stent malfunction and shorter stent patency. The desire to evaluate the mechanism and significance of stent abutment led us to design an in vitro experiment using a flexible anthropomorphic three-dimensional (3D)-printed GD phantom model.

To support the implementation of genome-based precision medicine, we developed machine learning models that predict the recurrence of patients with gynecologic cancer in using immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) based on clinical and pathologic characteristics, including Lynch syndrome-related screening markers such as immunohistochemistry (IHC) and microsatellite instability (MSI) tests. To accomplish our goal, we reviewed the patient demographics, clinical data, and pathological results from their medical records. Then we identified seven potential characteristics (four MMR IHC [MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2], MSI, Age 60, and tumor size). Following that, predictive models were built based on these variables using six machine learning algorithms: logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM), naive Bayes (NB), random forest (RF), gradient boosting (GB), and extreme gradient boosting (EGB) (XGBoost). The experimental results showed that the RF-based model performed best at predicting gynecologic cancer recurrence, with AUCs of 0.818 and 0.826 for the 5-fold cross-validation (CV) and 5-fold CV with 10 repetitions, respectively. This study provides novel and baseline results about predicting the recurrence of gynecologic cancer in patients using ICI by using machine learning methods based on Lynch syndrome-related screening markers.

To evaluate an EW-7197-eluting nanofiber-covered stent (NFCS) for suppressing granulation tissue formation after stent placement in a canine urethral model.

No abstract available

Epithelial wound healing requires the coordination of cells to migrate as a unit over the basement membrane after injury. To understand the process of this coordinated movement, it is critical to study the dynamics of cell-cell communication. We developed a method to characterize the injury-induced sustained Ca2+ mobilizations that travel between cells for periods of time up to several hours. These events of communication are concentrated along the wound edge and are reduced in cells further away from the wound. Our goal was to delineate the role and contribution of these sustained mobilizations and using MATLAB analyses, we determined the probability of cell-cell communication events in both in vitro models and ex vivo organ culture models. We demonstrated that the injury response was complex and represented the activation of a number of receptors. In addition, we found that pannexin channels mediated the cell-cell communication and motility. Furthermore, the sustained Ca2+ mobilizations are associated with changes in cell morphology and motility during wound healing. The results demonstrate that both purinoreceptors and pannexins regulate the sustained Ca2+ mobilization necessary for cell-cell communication in wound healing.

To investigate the therapeutic effect of local photothermal (PT) heating on suppression of stent-induced granulation tissue formation in mouse colon.

The relationship of estrogen (the primary female sex hormone) with hearing function has been studied in both humans and animals. However, whether estrogen levels affect hearing remains uncertain. Therefore, in this study, we investigated changes in the vulnerability of hearing to acoustic overexposure in ovariectomized female rats.

Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) combine direct photosensitivity through melanopsin with synaptically mediated drive from classical photoreceptors through bipolar-cell input. Here, we sought to provide a fuller description of the least understood ipRGC type, the M5 cell, and discovered a distinctive functional characteristic-chromatic opponency (ultraviolet excitatory, green inhibitory). Serial electron microscopic reconstructions revealed that M5 cells receive selective UV-opsin drive from Type 9 cone bipolar cells but also mixed cone signals from bipolar Types 6, 7, and 8. Recordings suggest that both excitation and inhibition are driven by the ON channel and that chromatic opponency results from M-cone-driven surround inhibition mediated by wide-field spiking GABAergic amacrine cells. We show that M5 cells send axons to the dLGN and are thus positioned to provide chromatic signals to visual cortex. These findings underscore that melanopsin's influence extends beyond unconscious reflex functions to encompass cortical vision, perhaps including the perception of color.