The novel COVID-19 outbreak has affected more than 200 countries and territories as of March 2020. Given that patients with cancer are generally more vulnerable to infections, systematic analysis of diverse cohorts of patients with cancer affected by COVID-19 is needed. We performed a multicenter study including 105 patients with cancer and 536 age-matched noncancer patients confirmed with COVID-19. Our results showed COVID-19 patients with cancer had higher risks in all severe outcomes. Patients with hematologic cancer, lung cancer, or with metastatic cancer (stage IV) had the highest frequency of severe events. Patients with nonmetastatic cancer experienced similar frequencies of severe conditions to those observed in patients without cancer. Patients who received surgery had higher risks of having severe events, whereas patients who underwent only radiotherapy did not demonstrate significant differences in severe events when compared with patients without cancer. These findings indicate that patients with cancer appear more vulnerable to SARS-COV-2 outbreak.SIgnIfICAnCe: Because this is the first large cohort study on this topic, our report will provide muchneeded information that will benefit patients with cancer globally. As such, we believe it is extremely important that our study be disseminated widely to alert clinicians and patients.

BackgroundReports indicate that those most vulnerable to developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are older adults and those with underlying illnesses, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, or cardiovascular disease, which are common comorbidities among patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. However, there is limited information about the clinical characteristics of hemodialysis patients with COVID-19 or about interventions to control COVID-19 in hemodialysis centers.MethodsWe collected data retrospectively through an online registration system that includes all patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis at 65 centers in Wuhan, China. We reviewed epidemiologic and clinical data of patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 between January 1, 2020 and March 10, 2020.ResultsOf 7154 patients undergoing hemodialysis, 154 had laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. The mean age of the 131 patients in our analysis was 63.2 years; 57.3% were men. Many had underlying comorbidities, with cardiovascular disease (including hypertension) being the most common (68.7%). Only 51.9% of patients manifested fever; 21.4% of infected patients were asymptomatic. The most common finding on chest computed tomography (CT) was ground-grass or patchy opacity (82.1%). After initiating comprehensive interventions—including entrance screening of body temperature and symptoms, universal chest CT and blood tests, and other measures—new patients presenting with COVID-19 peaked at 10 per day on January 30, decreasing to 4 per day on February 11. No new cases occurred between February 26 and March 10, 2020.ConclusionsWe found that patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis were susceptible to COVID-19 and that hemodialysis centers were high-risk settings during the epidemic. Increasing prevention efforts, instituting universal screening, and isolating patients with COVID-19 and directing them to designated hemodialysis centers were effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in hemodialysis centers.

The retromer complex component VPS35 prevents activation of the BACE1 and Aβ production and thus plays an essential role in limiting Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology.

Nanoparticles of intramolecular proton transfer molecule N,N′-bis(salicylidene)-p-phenylenediamine have been prepared with the reprecipitation method in water. The evolving processes have been monitored by means of UV-vis absorption, fluorescence emission, transient emission spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The fluorescent intensity is increased beyond 60 times in the nanoparticles compared to that in solution. With the increase of aging time, nanoparticles convert spontaneously from spherical to rodlike and finally to beltlike aggregates. A mechanism for the enhanced emission is proposed on the basis of flattened molecules, and a possible model for change of the nanoparticles' shape is also proposed on the basis of theoretical calculations.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), one of the most dreaded neurodegenerative disorders, is characterized by cortical and cerebrovascular Aβ (amyloid β peptide) deposits, neurofibrillary tangles, chronic inflammation, and neuronal loss. Increased bone fracture rates and reduced bone density are commonly observed in patients with AD, suggesting a common denominator(s) between both disorders. However, very few studies are available that have addressed this issue. Here, we present evidence for a function of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and Aβ in regulating osteoclast (OC) differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Tg2576 mice, which expresses Swedish mutation of APP (APPswe) under the control of prion promoter (1,2), exhibit biphasic effects on OC activation, with an increase of OC in younger mice (< 4 month old), but a decrease in older Tg2576 mice (> 4 month old). The increase of OC in young Tg2576 mice appears to be mediated by Aβ oligomers and RAGE (receptor for advanced glycation end products) expression in BMMs. However, the decrease of OC formation and activity in older Tg2576 mice may be due to the increase of sRAGE in aged Tg2576 mice, an inhibitor of RANKL induced osteoclastogenesis. These results suggest an unexpected function of APPswe/Aβ, reveal a mechanism underlying altered bone remodeling in AD patients, and implicate APP/Aβ and RAGE as common denominators for both AD and osteoporosis.

No abstract

OBJECTIVESkeletal muscle myopathy is a common diabetes complication. One possible cause of myopathy is myocyte failure to repair contraction-generated plasma membrane injuries. Here, we test the hypothesis that diabetes induces a repair defect in skeletal muscle myocytes.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSMyocytes in intact muscle from type 1 (INS2Akita+/−) and type 2 (db/db) diabetic mice were injured with a laser and dye uptake imaged confocally to test repair efficiency. Membrane repair defects were also assessed in diabetic mice after downhill running, which induces myocyte plasma membrane disruption injuries in vivo. A cell culture model was used to investigate the role of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and the receptor for AGE (RAGE) in development of this repair defect.RESULTSDiabetic myocytes displayed significantly more dye influx after laser injury than controls, indicating a repair deficiency. Downhill running also resulted in a higher level of repair failure in diabetic mice. This repair defect was mimicked in cultured cells by prolonged exposure to high glucose. Inhibition of the formation of AGE eliminated this glucose-induced repair defect. However, a repair defect could be induced, in the absence of high glucose, by enhancing AGE binding to RAGE, or simply by increasing cell exposure to AGE.CONCLUSIONSBecause one consequence of repair failure is rapid cell death (via necrosis), our demonstration that repair fails in diabetes suggests a new mechanism by which myopathy develops in diabetes.

Abstract. Optical fiber technology has significantly bolstered the growth of photonics applications in basic life sciences research and in biomedical diagnosis, therapy, monitoring, and surgery. The unique operational characteristics of diverse fibers have been exploited to realize advanced biomedical functions in areas such as illumination, imaging, minimally invasive surgery, tissue ablation, biological sensing, and tissue diagnosis. This review paper provides the necessary background to understand how optical fibers function, to describe the various categories of available fibers, and to illustrate how specific fibers are used for selected biomedical photonics applications. Research articles and vendor data sheets were consulted to describe the operational characteristics of conventional and specialty multimode and single-mode solid-core fibers, double-clad fibers, hard-clad silica fibers, conventional hollow-core fibers, photonic crystal fibers, polymer optical fibers, side-emitting and side-firing fibers, middle-infrared fibers, and optical fiber bundles. Representative applications from the recent literature illustrate how various fibers can be utilized in a wide range of biomedical disciplines. In addition to helping researchers refine current experimental setups, the material in this review paper will help conceptualize and develop emerging optical fiber-based diagnostic and analysis tools.